The Emperor's Mask
by BigFatJambles
Summary: Tatsumi comes across a book in a mainstay library;having been forced to co-exist with Esdese and the remaining Jeagers after the battle with the Emperor. This book tells him of many Teigu, but a specific one entails the subject of bringing the dead back to life. Starting a journey to bring his family back;he eventually learns that there might be an enemy far worse then the Empire.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

A midst a destroyed land, decimated trees, dilapidated mountains and buildings, laid dead silence. Puddles of death scattered across this land, broken weapons, melted armor, gruesome scenery, and constant lines of marked radiation. This weapon that the Prime Minister used, it wiped out his own army, the resistance, nearly everybody in the capital. Half of his own city was destroyed and for one reason, the power he held, the Teigu he had, was his last hope at staying in power. The fail-safe of the Capital, the resistance...it wasn't gone entirely, but this corrupt individual killed his own nation. Taking Leone with him, he decimated half the land.

Among a field of green, wet dirt, laid a familiar figure. Wearing a platinum trench-coat like outfit, he laid there bloodied, and unconscious. Next to him, lye a broken sword with a chain around it. Incursio has broken. The broken, shattered pieces of it, glistening in the sunlight that now coated Tatsumi, drying the blood on his already tattered coat. His hair, covering his inactive eyes, fell to the left side of his face, revealing a small scar on his right eye.

Coming to, he opened his eyes, moved his hands, and felt a familiar feeling of the grass, and earth around him. He squeezed some of the grass next to his sides, and carefully leaned up to get a glimpse of his surroundings with his damaged and blurry vision. When his vision's opacity became normal, he immediately got up from the ground, and struggled to keep himself standing, quickly holding his side. Shaking his head to whisk the now longer hair out of his face, he immediately started to develop anxiety, worrying about Night Raid, his fellow loved ones, and especially, Mine, Akame, and Leone.

He tried to start running, but to no avail, as his side wouldn't let him move more then a limp's pace. As he limped across the field of Earth, he came to a cliff-side and saw the devastation. There were broken down tree limbs, homes, cottages, weapons lye about all over the chipped stone, this side of the Capital had become city ruins.

Tatsumi instantly started searching through the rubble, walking atop broken tile, looking for Akame or Najenda, anything...just a single trace of any of this friends would be enough for him to calm down. Nothing. He felt tears starting to form in his eyes, and he started to go to so many conclusions.

As he walked further among the rubble, he spotted a familiar figure. Her long blue hair glistened in the now piercing sunlight. As he felt his rage build up inside him, he yelled at the figure as loud as his damaged voice let him do so.

"ESDESE! WHAT HAPPENED, WHERE IS EVERYBODY?!" Tatsumi could feel his voice fading.

The figure turned around, revealing her crazed and bloodied face. She didn't seem to be damaged, her normal outfit, the familiar cap that looked like it should have been worn by a pirate, the captain's skirt and long white leggings.

"Tatsumi...you survived. I had hope, I knew that this would happen. You would be the last alive, and I would be able to take you in my arms once again...My love." she seemed too content and happy to be bloodied up.

"Esdese...what happened...what happened to the city? What happened to Akame? Leone? Najenda?!" Tatsumi yelled with a cracked up, dying voice. Holding his side, he walked further towards her.

"Well, when the Minister let out that huge hidden card explosion, I'd imagine that they all got disintegrated. I didn't see miss depth perception anywhere. However, I can tell you I didn't kill anybody after I fled from the fight, my love. You don't need to be my enemy anymore. Its over, Night Raid is gone, and the opposing side is in shambles." she explained.

Tatsumi stood there in shock, holding his side. The tattered coat, now letting its dirt fall onto what seemed to be a small shop stand before the explosion.

"Esdese...do you know how many people that the explosion killed? Innocent bystanders...children, Your own Jeagers...it may have even killed YOU!" Tatsumi yelled, with an angry face.\

"I know. The Prime Minister really did betray the lot of us." she crossed her arms as she continued to walk towards him.

"Then how the hell can you continue to be on his side?! I hate you so much. You are the reason my friends died...you enjoy nothing but death...you killed Lubbock, you killed them all!" Tatsumi scowled at her, making her walk faster, in dire annoyance.

When she got close to him, Tatsumi tried to push her away, but he was far to weak to do so. She wrapped her arms around his grimy coat, feeling the dirt that was now stuck to the back of it, signifying that he had been unconscious for a long time. Laying her head on the familiar messy hair of Tatsumi, she took a huge breath and smelt the boy. He smelled of blood, and sweat.

"Tatsumi. I never said I was still on the same side. This shouldn't be something we are worrying about right now. Not whether we are enemies, because we are no longer enemie-

"How the hell can you say that...we fought constantly, you killed Lubbock...you caused all of this to happen!" Tatsumi started to cry. Esdese could feel his tears on her chest, which only made her tighten her grip of her hug.

"You need to be patched up...you are coming with me my love." she moved her hand above his neck, and hit it with one single smack. The boy was now unconscious once again, in his obsessed enemy's arms, his final boss, now taking him into her own arms. Maybe it was true. Maybe...she finally wanted the fight to stop...maybe a sense of betrayal really did show her how corrupt the capital is...However, Tatsumi didn't care anymore. He just wanted to be in an embrace...he wanted it all to go away. He wanted to close his eyes, open them again and see Mine, Akame, and all of Night Raid standing there, having a fun time. He knew that wasn't going to happen.

With Tatsumi now in her arms, asleep, Esdese carried him over her back, walking towards the nearby forest of dead, brown trees from the blast.

"Tatsumi...can you not take this as a sign of our love? We were the last two alive...God was telling us that we were meant for each other. This can't be coincidence." she thought aloud. As she was about to descend into the forest of dead trees, she looked over to the right of herself. There she was, Akame, laid there in a pool of her own blood. Next to her, Murasame laid. She didn't kill her, but she was happy. With Night Raid gone, Tatsumi had nobody left to turn to. He was all hers. She let out a very familiar manic laugh, as she carried her newly found lover through the gray, dead grass.

She could be the one on top. With the minister and emperor dead, there will be rule. Esdese would be the one on top. Esdese, the new empress, she thrived at the sound of that. A small blush appearing on her face, as she thought of all the things she would order to have done when she got into that seat of sorrow.

Esdese, the Empress.

 **Jambles here. I intend to make this story very long, and a new chapter will be uploaded every day. Please read and review. Review with honest responses, and please criticize the story so I may perform better as it goes on! Everybody, you have a fantastic day.**


	2. Show me your Common Day

Tatsumi stood silently, next to a room full of people. Leaning against the chipped wooden wall, he had the all familiar Incursio strapped to his back. He had nothing but a black coat equipped. Looking all too familiar to his original white one. He had to get rid of that. It was reminding him of Night Raid every single time he donned it...and he couldn't take it. All of his friends, Akame, Lubbock, Mine, Najenda, Bulat, Chelsea, Leone, they are all dead. Esdese and himself, they were on good terms. He couldn't believe that she was still standing after the whole ordeal. After the fateful day, she revealed to him that he killed the Prime Minister and Emperor. She told him that she watched the entire event unfold. He hit the Prime Minister with all of his might and power, killing him instantly. That left one question that even after five months, Tatsumi didn't have any answer to it. Why did he survive?

Esdese had been close with him. Tatsumi's killing made her the new Empress. Esdese didn't particularly care about any of the corrupt posts or people, she wanted absolute dominance in power, and she got what she wanted. Tatsumi still had a part of him that hated her, a part of him still wanted to kill her in her sleep, but with how much Esdese had done to him, and with him, he started to fall for her. After so many months of coddling, forcing herself onto him, not taking no for any answers, over all throwing his pride and self-esteem out the door, he started to love her. Esdese was changing him. Changing him very quickly.

The conversation in the other room subsided, allowing lots of inhabitants to pour out of the room, revealing the inside carpet after all of the bodies were out. Tatsumi walked into this room, and walked to the upper counter in the corner of the room. The room was small, but it was efficient, as it was the most popular library in the Capital. He had somewhat of a break from training, so he decided to use it to his advantage, and take a scour through old books. Esdese was in some sort of meeting, to adjourn the placement and election of generals for the now less corrupt empire. She had the constant group of ideas cycling through her mind. They have fought on different sides so long, constantly at each others throats in battle, and she loved every minute of it. She wanted to tear him down, make him hers to own, and she was on the landslide of doing exactly that.

Among the wooden floor, Tatsumi walked along the bookshelves, his Teigu hitting the back of his lightly armored coat, making a shifting noise along with his boots. He glanced at the labels of the books, taking into account as to how dirty they seemed. They were obviously prehistoric. He paced back and forth, looking at the same dusty and grimy group of books while doing so. One particular title caught his eye:

61205 Teigu Caricature

He hesitated a bit before he reached his arm towards the book and grabbed it off the shelf, leaving a dust cloud to coat his hand and face during the transaction. Tatsumi looked at his hands, forgetting that he still had fingerless gloves on. He had these one when he was training with Wave earlier this morning, He guessed he forget to take them off. Finding a nearby seat, he sat down and opened up the book, dust spraying everywhere. He couldn't believe that something so old was sitting in a library like this.

He read the book aloud in his head:

 _Carlian - a Teigu created from the old right hand of the first emperor, Bermun. This Teigu, comes in the form of a flute. The flute is metallic in appearance, and is said to be able to control time, sending the use back in time to a setback of their choosing. The location of this Teigu is unknown. However, its been said that whenever a vengeful spirit awakens to tell another of a tragedy, this flute will appear in the chosen one's hands in one way or another._

 _Falorin - This Teigu is the most sought after piece of armor in the land. At least it was. This Teigu, comes in the form of chest armor. This chest armor, bearing striking resemblance to a swordsman coat. It is said in legend, that the one user to don this armor, would be able to use up to five Teigu without having the normal consequences._

 _Trakunikiss - This Teigu, in legend, is said to have the ability to bring the dead back to life. The third emperor,fearing such catastrophe, sealed away the Teigu to prevent it's miss-use. It is said that when the time is right, the door will open and this Teigu will be found by a suited wielder._

Tatsumi's eyes widened fiercely when he read this. Not only was this in plain sight, but anybody could have gotten a hold of this. He wondered why it was so easy to find, but a bigger part of him was focusing on his deceased comrades. He felt his stomach churn as he got the warmest feeling in his soul. There was a Teigu that could bring his friends back. He found something to ease his suffering, he found a shrivel of hope; he found the sign. He knew what he had to do now. He needed to hunt for this Teigu, he needed to find it, bring back his friends, and live a happy life. He knew that this world couldn't be so cruel, he knew that everybody deserved to be happy.

With a smile creeping along his face, Tatsumi gripped his shining black coat with joy, and he wrinkled it and jumped out of the chair. He started to form tears in his eyes, tears of joy, as he ran through familiar conclusions in his head as to what would happen when he found it. He would find out how to use it, then immediately bring everybody back to life. The sorrow would be over. He could feel himself start to dance, but halted immediately when he felt the all too familiar presence of a certain person. As he felt the air get colder, he hunched over and grabbed the book;stuffing it into his right pocked as he turned around to face Esdese. He didn't expect her to find him here, let alone get out of the meeting so early. She was leaning up against the entrance, purposefully slanted;trying to make Tatsumi put on the expression she never got tired of. His embarrassment was beauty to her, it was cute.

She wore an outfit similar to her original attire, however this version was white and gold, rather then white and black. Tatsumi guessed she wanted to spice it up a bit more, considering she ruled the Capital. It wasn't only the outfits, however.

"You look happy. What are you doing in here, my love?" she asked, flirtatiously.

"Well, its a library. I was sort of reading, to pass the time, you know?"

"I knew that. What I didn't understand, was why you weren't in my room, awaiting my return." she mellowly asked.

"Esdese...I need some space, you know? You can't always have me by your side like-"

"You have no authority to tell me what to do with what is mine." she explained, walking up to Tatsumi with her arms now crossed.

"I just wish you would look at me more then just a possession."

"Oh...my Tatsumi. You know I look at you more then that. Its just a perk that you have. You are my possession, one I want to hold close, forever." she wrapped her arms around him and held him close, pushing his head into her chest.

Tatsumi tried to hide a blush that spread across his face. He liked it when she spoke of him like this, but he felt himself still trying to stand up for himself, even if it had no avail. He loved it when she held him close. Now that she was the leader, and the Prime Minister had been defeated, he didn't feel any resentment towards her. There were always two halves to his feelings, his loving side usually dominating over the other, giving in to whatever she said.

"I am sorry for not being in your quarters when you got back, Esdese." he apologized.

"You didn't even leave me a note. I was really looking forward to crawling into bed with you and-"

"O-Okay, you don't have to speak so loudly about it, I'm sorry."

Her grip tightened around Tatsumi as she quickly and forcefully kissed him. Tatsumi could feel her tongue eagerly tasting him. After pulling away, a trail of saliva quickly faded as she started to speak again.

"I want you to head to my chambers, right now." she enforced.

"I will, once I am done in here."

He tried to lightly shove her away, but she gripped him harder and moved her hand closer to his forehead, pushing his head up so his eyes were forced to meet hers.

"Now, Tatsumi."

"Esdese, you are being unreasonable, all I want to do-"

"Tatsumi, you will not deny me. You tried to stop me from our relations last night, do you remember how that turned out?" she spoke aloud. The library clerk seemed to hear her, chuckling a little bit, making Tatsumi even more embarrassed. She knew what she was doing, and she loved it. Teasing him is the funnest thing she got to do during the day. Tatsumi hesitated for a bit before letting go of the tenseness he had in his body, drooping into her arms, obviously tired of the situation.

"Yes...I do remember Esdese. Lets go then."

Esdese let go of him, turning around towards the entrance of the room. The creaking sound of the wood below them both echoed throughout the room until they both made it out into the hall, the book inside Tatsumi's pocket shifting and sliding around. Esdese had a triumphant grin on her face;Tatsumi knowing full well what was ahead of them. She was more then likely going to chain him up and have her way with him again. She did this most nights, still ripe with the intention of making Tatsumi hers, making him apologize for ever opposing her.

With this newly found book, Tatsumi was in a happier mood. He knew that there was a Teigu that could bring life back. He knew that there was a way he could see his friends, standing alive and before him once again. He didn't care what Esdese did to him, or what happened, he was happy. He finally has a goal he wants to reach.

When they both reached the entrance to Esdese' quarters, Tatsumi wore the embarrassed expression much longer then he expected. With the ideas of how Tatsumi was going to start looking for the Teigu going through his head, Esdese opened the door and swiftly pulled him inside the room;shutting the door. She had a hungry look in her eyes. As she walked over to the nearby dresser, she started to ask an all too familiar question Tatsumi opposing beckoned to ever hear again.

"Do you remember our last battle, my love?"

Tatsumi's mind, becoming a canal full of horrible leaks and setbacks, made him hesitate for a minute before answering.

"Y-Yes I do. I remember us being in quite a tie..."

She gritted her teeth when she heard this. She hated that he had a sense of self righteousness. She wanted to take this out of him. She wanted to dominate his rebelliousness. She wanted to tear him down and build him back up. He was hers. Hers to own, and hers to keep. Every strand of hair and every thought he had against her, was hers to hold. He still had her own personal debts to repay to her.

"Far from a tie, love."

Tatsumi was about to respond with a remark that would cause a heated response but when he gazed over at Esdese his face nearly turned blood red. Esdese was half naked, causing him to get extremely embarrassed. Esdese was staring at him, wearing a self absorbed grin on her face, fully knowing that he didn't have a choice as to how the day would go from here on out. She bathed in it;she knew that she decided what went for him now. He was a rebellious enemy and lover, but now, she owned him. He was hers.

 **I need to let you know that this story will not only be exclusive to Tatsumi and Esdese' love. This chapter was originally very long, but I chopped it up due to time. Stay Tuned, and stay happy! - Jambles**


	3. Show me your Plans

Tatsumi awoke to the sunlight piercing his eyes. His hair, more messier then it had ever been; his coat wrinkled and messed up. He leaned forward to take a look around him. He was in Esdese' bed; he managed to scan around the room to see the singular vase in the corner of the room, tables and the same sofa he remembered trying to sleep on when he first met her. He came to a quick realization and swiftly reached into his pocket and pulled out the book he "borrowed" from the library yesterday. Then it came to him. Yesterday? How long has he been asleep? It couldn't have been night when Esdese forced him in here, it was merely afternoon. That didn't seem to faze him for long however; as he opened the book up back to the page that talked about the life Teigu.

As soon as he saw the fishy text once again, memories rushed into his head. He remembered the swear he had to endure when he talked about a Teigu that could bring people back to life in front of Night Raid. Najenda yelled at him, making himself stop talking in an instant. They seemed to have given up hope of finding a Teigu that could bring others back from the dead, simply accepting the fact that Teigu's simply don't have the power to do so;considering they were apparently forged by one Emperor a long time ago. He browsed over the familiar handwriting, moving himself to hang his legs off the end of the bed, still holding the hunk of leather and paper in his lap.

A certain ending piece of the explanation caught his eye. It was something abnormal to him. The text that was written below the paragraph for _Trakunikiss:_

 _Within a town, where the sun goes down,_

 _this flute lye-_

The inking on the paper looked like it was scraped off. It looked like somebody was held against their own will while writing it, scribbled down like a five year old getting a hold of a quill he/she wasn't supposed to. Thinking aloud, Tatsumi wondered about it, trying to decipher exactly what it meant. He wanted to get to finding this Teigu as soon as possible, so he wasn't bound to any possibilities of figuring it out. Once he would get up and get dressed, he would try to find Wave;hoping to find out if he knew anything about it.

Sliding the book down to the right onto the messed up sheets, he got up, and looked around to spot his coat in the corner;seamlessly tossed into the sharp space of tile. He remembered that last night, Esdese, she was very, very forceful. He reached over to his side to feel bruises. She really brings a whole new meaning to tough love; he thought. He began scanning the room for Incursio, quickly spotting it in on the floor next to the door. Esdese seemed to have thrown everything off of him;she must have been very hell bent on him last night.

Walking out the door, Tatsumi immediately felt a breeze from the small open window at the end of the right hallway. He continued his way down this hallway to find the room where Wave and the Jeagers would possibly be waiting. The squeaking sound of the wood echoing throughout the hallway made its debut as he walked through the archway entrance to find Kurome eating cookies like always, Wave in a chair, chilling out it seemed like.

Wave took a quick glance at Tatsumi, motioning a wave. Tatsumi went over to wave, and reluctantly sat between him and Kurome, pulling up a chair, closer to Wave then he was Kurome. The aura that she emitted was enough to send Tatsumi flying to the moon. She was just so...omniscient. It made him cringe inside a little, expecting her to strike any moment;at any given time, and Tatsumi had one glint of thought every time he saw her eat one of the cookies...he thought that maybe he would die by one of those cookies. She has that sort of look. He admits that at one point, those cookies will kill him. He doesn't know now, or when, but they will kill him at some point.

Tatsumi put the now cleaner _grimy book down on the table, opening it to the page explaining Trakunikiss._

"So, Wave. I found this book in the library, and it has some scripture of a Teigu. This Teigu, is said to bring people back from the dead, what do you think about it?" Tatsumi asked.

Wave looked over the small text on the book, reluctantly glancing at Tatsumi.

"Bringing people back to life...huh."

"Look I know its a big stretch, Wave, but I really think there is something here, man."

"I don't know about all that noise, Tatsumi. I mean, if this was in the library, it was obviously searched for, and then lost."

"Why would you say that? What if this thing is still out there?"

"It probably is, but think of how many people have probably looked for that and failed. Is that what you are planning to do? Look for this thing, Tatsumi?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. I am going to look for it."

Wave proceeded to get up out of his chair and aggressively look down at Tatsumi.

"You shouldn't."

"And why is that?"

"Because every single time somebody has gone on a wild goose chase like this, they never returned."

"You think I won't return? I look at you guys with major respect. I would never just abandon you or Esdese."

"Really? Did you have that same mindset when you left after she managed to get a hold of you again? When you nearly killed me with that damned Incursio?"

Tatsumi started to get a sense of anger swelling inside of him. His fist's clenching as he rose up from the seat to stand his ground, Kurome behind him, wearing a surprised expression;wondering why Wave was as tense as he was. They were both essentially sick of the Capital and it's officials; even seemingly tearing at their souls every day they wake up.

"Its in your best interest to not bring up the past, Wave."

"So you're threatening me now, are you?"

"Maybe I am. I've dealt with that talk enough already."

Wave let out a huge sigh, as he sat back down and glanced at the book.

"Just don't go to far or get captured, please. I'm asking you as a friend, its a request from me, I don't want to endure the torture from Esdese again. I thought we would have established a certain level of trust as comrades but she still tortures me, even after all this time."

"I won't Wave, all I wanted to do was ask you about it."

"And I gave you what I thought about it."

"One more thing."

"What is that, Tatsumi?"

"There is a small riddle like quote hidden under-neath this Trakunikiss description. Was wondering if you knew anything about it?"

"Let me take a look."

The tension in the air started to fade away as Tatsumi let Wave reach his hands over to pass the book over to himself, his eyes looking hardly for the small words that Tatsumi spoke of.

"In a town where the sun goes down? Yeah. I've heard of that before."

"Really?! Where from, and how?" Tatsumi excitedly asked.

"It was an old Sailor's chant that a group I got caught up in used to say all the time. It went like: _In a town where the sun goes down, where the hounds dig mounds, and the crown falls fierce upon the living stone."_

" _Um...Uh...I'm not going to lie, I didn't expect you to know anything about it." Tatsumi started laughing, jotting down a mental sticky note as the words that Wave spoke made their way into his brain._

"I guess I still have some surprises left in me."

"Wave, I'm not going to lie...this riddle might just be the most idiotic thing I've heard of in a long while."

"Hey, those jingles are nostalgic."

Tatsumi started to contemplate asking Kurome anything, but decided against it as he made his way towards the exit, hoping to get ready for his departure to find out more about this town.

* * *

As Tatsumi made his way around the Capital market, he saw tons of unique faces. He saw dancing women, extending invitations to him, asking for gold, drunkard people lazing around, asking people to date. There were even people trying to give speeches;talking about how to make the capital great again. It was severely crowded, to the point where shoulder length proximity wasn't even uncommon. As he made his way through the crowd, trying to find a map salesman, or something similar to that extent, he stopped; dead in his tracks.

He exchanged a few glances with two girls in the crowd, but he didn't expect what he saw when he looked to the right of the girls. He saw Akame. Akame was...in her normal outfit, but her eyes...her eyes were missing. In place of her pupils were just white dots...

Tatsumi felt himself swallowing saliva swiftly as he reached his hand up to rub his eyes. Once he succeeded in doing so, she was no longer there. He brushed it off as nothing more then a hallucination, and kept searching for the map.

* * *

With a triumphant smirk on his face, Tatsumi sat down on the sofa in Esdese' chambers, facing the bed. He pulled out his newly acquired map, and started to compare the riddle to the way his map was set up. The map he received had weather-like prediction patterns, all be it newly introduced techniques, Tatsumi had a good feeling _about it. He compared the first part, In a town where the sun goes down, trying to find a point in the map around the Capital where the sun seemed to shine the most._

No areas around the Capital seemed to have brushed the surface of the text, but he did find a symbol on the map that seemed to be too transparent. It had some sort of light emitting off of it. Considering the map was a piece of flattened wood paper, it didn't have the kind of translucent feeling as something like cloth or fabric did.

Upon further inspection, Tatsumi noted that it seemed to be a day or two's journey away from the Capital.

Sealing this as his only lead, Tatsumi planned to head out in the morning, after getting a good nights sleep. He didn't want himself to be so abrupt, and he also wanted to be cautious in looking for this Teigu, but there was this feeling inside of him that just told him he needed to go. If this Teigu was existent, that would mean he could bring all of his friends back. That is what he kept telling himself when he had any doubt in his mind.

Deciding to put the items up for a while, Tatsumi went back to the room where Wave was stationed, hoping to train a bit before he hopped into the shower.


	4. Show me your Weapon's Personality

Tatsumi sat in an now empty room;the smell of wood filling the air. The tables had nothing on them, the chairs were empty;it was just him and his thoughts. He stared blankly at the same hunk of leather that was causing him to lose sleep for the past couple days. 'It doesn't make any sense. Why would this be stationed in an old library like that? Furthermore, how on earth did the library survive the blast?' He was pretty sure that the blast that Shikoutazer let out flattened the entire capital. He has had thoughts about this for months now;same with the whole story behind how he survived. He went head on to the emperor fully expecting to take himself with the giant hunk of armor, but now, Esdese is the Empress, the Capital is less corrupt;officials now backing down to the enforcement he, Esdese and the now non-canonical group holding the title of the Jeagers.

That question beckons him at every moment;how on earth did he survive? Akame was dead, so were the others. He was the last of Night Raid, but why? Why did he survive?

As he forcefully grabbed his own hair in frustration, he searched for a conciliating answer. Najenda was sure that there wasn't any Teigu that could bring others back from the dead, but what is this Trakunikiss? Furthermore, Falorin is intriguing as well. Tatsumi's first reaction to this book;he believed it was a trap.

Gritting his teeth, Tatsumi stared at the cheesy riddle below the description for Trakunikiss. The only lead he had was the town in the east, marked by the new technological map from the newly founded Market. It was a stupid and naive choice;following after Trakunikiss with a barely functional map, but Tatsumi felt that it was the correct decision. He had a motivation to live, to thrive. He found a thread of hope, he found something that kept him going everyday. If only he could find these Teigu's...he could bring his friends back to life;living among the happily ever after hall of fame.

The instant memory of seeing an embodiment of Akame came rushing into his head. 'What was that? It was Akame, I'm sure of it;just with an evil dark side look to her. Her demon-like eyes pierced my soul. It might have been my mind playing tricks on me, but really, I believe I've grown somewhat immune to the symptom.'

Thinking to himself, Tatsumi managed to not notice the person peering at him from the entry way to the direct right of him;that same distorted version of Akame,staring at his every inch. It took him a solid minute before he took a quick glance at the entryway, looking back at the book, and then panning back to the Clown Cartridge that is Akame;with even more surprised eyes. He drew the withered Incursio; a broken sword forged together with a simple danger beast's armor. The very effect of drawing this weapon with such force, made a few chairs fly back, as he was quickly intent with the situation. With sweat forming on his hands, he was taken aback before he began to speak to the embodiment.

"A-Akame...is this you are you just a figment of my imagination?" he hesitatingly asked.

The being didn't answer.

"Answer me!"

She didn't answer. She simply stared into his eyes with the effortless value of scaring him. After moments of staring at each other, the dark side Akame started to speak to him.

"I see you've found the book I planted for you."

A surprised look spread across Tatsumi's face like a cheetah running after it's prey. Thinking aloud, he quickly put together the pieces and exclaimed his first theory;a calm expression starting to creep across his face.

"Akame...are you a ghost? Did you put that there because you don't want to be dead?"

"I am not Akame."

"Then who are you? There is no other way you would be standing here in front of me if you weren't."

"I am Murasame."

Tatsumi wore a scared expression. There was absolutely no way that this could be possible. There were only short instances where Tyrant may have talked to himself, but he thought nothing of that more then just an pessimistic situation.

"No, there is...that's not-"

"Tatsumi, the shock-wave from that Teigu killed Akame. There is no single doubt about it. She was physically and mentally deceased."

"You don't have to bring it up again."

"I'm standing here, an embodiment of Akame, speaking to you, hero. Why don't you hear me out, surely we can come to a conclusion."

"I'm no hero. I'm just a fool who thought he could save everybody. Don't call me a hero-"

"But you are, Tatsumi. You can see the overall effect you demagnetized upon the capital. Less officials are committing murder, poor villages are getting wealthy, but there is a bigger issue. A much, much more gargantuan issue at stake."

"What could possible be worse then the battle eight months ago?"

"The death and downfall of Night Raid. I can see it's taking a toll on you."

"You stupid, stupid demon. Of course its taking a toll on me. They were my friends! They were what made me who I am today. Every single day I live, I am thinking of their faces...this is the biggest motivation I have towards finding these damn Teigu...I want...no...I need to find these things-but forget it. Why in the hell am I explaining my feelings to a Demon?"

"I'm no demon. I'm an embodiment of an animal, forged into a weapon."

"The difference being?"

"I have pretty hair."

Tatsumi wore a blank and confused;angry expression.

"Are you kidding me? Pretty hair? That's Akame's hair you dwindling demon."

"How much longer are you going to point that broken beast at me, Tatsumi?"

"Long enough for you to leave me alone and never come back."

"I suppose you don't want to aid you on this journey, then."

Tatsumi let out a sigh of annoyance;letting the sword fall and sheath to his back as he sat back down in the chair, staring at Murasame with an annoyed expression.

"Good. Lets get to it then."

"Let's, because staring at Akame again is making this situation very, very worse."

"Is it? I figured you would enjoy seeing your friends face again."

"Have you not looked into the mirror, your eyes are missing. I repeat, missing..."

"Oh, yeah. That's unfortunately an after-effect of borrowing somebody's spirit-

Tatsumi wore a scared and equally terrified expression as he interrupted the Akame Demon.

"Borrowing somebody's spirit? Are you kidding me? How do you say it so elegantly, like you don't care?!"

Murasame started to chuckle as she quickly wore a serious expression.

"Akame called out to me after death, her spirit, quickly in pain as she didn't get to fulfill her promise to you."

"Killing me after I went dark side with Tyrant?"

"Exactly."

"I can't believe I'm asking this, but how exactly did Akame call out to you?"

"In her death, she spoke words, these words were simple. She wanted you to finish the fight and live a happy life. She wanted to meet you in the afterlife...she wanted to have a happy ending, but in this world, there are no happy endings."

Tatsumi searched through his memories of Akame;gritting his teeth, wearing a visibly sad face as he remembered her promise. 'I'll always come and save you. Were friends, after all!". He started to feel depression swell up inside of himself, his very mind becoming a void; a cloud of sadness. This sorrow started fill up more and more, but ended quickly when the visible demon-like Akame started to speak again.

"I will aid you on your journey."

"I will be damned if I have a demon version of Akame following me around. Hell no."

"You silly, silly boy. I'm Murasame. I want you to take me in hand, and use me in battle."

* * *

A short time passed as Tatsumi processed the words that echoed throughout his ears.

"You-you want me to use Murasame;as in, Akame's sword, yeah...sure...that isn't happening."

"Tell me the reason you can't. I wish to hear your excuse. It impresses me as to how naive you are."

Tatsumi was getting visibly and both physically annoyed.

"I can't wield a sword like that, it was exclusive to Akame, and I already have Incursio. I can't hold two Teigu at once, much less learn how to use Murasame, considering it takes sheer willpower to control it-"

"I'm going to tell you this once;now you listen here, and you listen well."

Tatsumi crossed his arms.

"In history, there have been many, many Emperors. I've been wielded by many warriors, each being defeated at one point or another, passing myself and my energy down to a descendant. However, there was one Emperor, this Emperor had a hellbent mindset on powering his Empire, and with that thought pattern came high anxiousness; fearing that his nation would be destroyed, he started to harvest armor from Danger Beasts. It wasn't just armor either, it was weapons. Fangs, talon's, teeth, even breath, but there was one artifact that he created. This artifact, was the most powerful of any weapon or item in the entire land. He made a flute. This flute was unique in concept, allowing the user to literally control time."

"...so...you're saying that maybe if I get my hands on this flute, I can go back in time and-"

"No. In legend, you will be able to go back in time when major events took place. Either that, or up to four days into the future, or four days into the past."

"How do you know so much about this?"

"Because I've been here. I've been here through it all. I was there for the Downfall of Bermun, I was there for the start of the wars, I was there for the downfall of Night Raid and Shikoutazer, and now I'm here for the Emperor's Mask."

"The Emperor's Mask? What-"

"You will learn about that soon enough. For now, let me show you something."

Tatsumi felt intrigued as he looked closely at Murasame, watching her hands dig into the pockets of what she seemed to explain as her descendant's tattered outfit. After shriveling around in the pocket;exchanging demon-like glances with Tatsumi, she pulled out a chrome flute, placing it on the table, making Tatsumi surprised in nature.

"Is that-"

"Yes. This is Carlian. It took me a long time to get my hands on it, but I managed to scare a user from giving it up."

Tatsumi was irritated. How could she suddenly shift from talk about some mask, and then about Trukunikiss? Now Carlian? Tatsumi responded to her with anger in his voice.

"Yeah I bet."

"Tatsumi. Take this flute, and use it. Use it to find Falorin. Use it to find Trakunikiss. Learn to use Murasame. I must go."

Tatsumi got up and stared at Murasame in total shock.

"Where in the world would you possibly go?! You're an embodiment of evil for gods sake!"

"I never imagined you to be this cute and silly, boy. Goodbye for now."

A bright red light started to envelop below the tables and chairs, lighting up Tatsumi's and Murasame's face. Tatsumi lunged forward with an extended arm to try to grab the evil Akame.

"Hey, wait!"

A bright flash of light happened as the ground shaking stopped. She was gone. That evil, Akame;Murasame he guessed, just disappeared. Within the void of shock, Tatsumi glanced over at Carlian. The flute, glistened in the now shortly forming sunlight that made its way through the windows;piercing the curtains to form a bright shade of light. He leaned over and put his hands on the flute, bringing it to his face, examining it closer. 'Its just a flute...it doesn't look like much of anything.' he thought.

Tatsumi continued to stare at it until he felt an instant feeling of dread inside of his soul. He let out a large grunt as he hunched over, grabbing his right side with the flute still in hand. Wrinkling his black coat once again, he closed one eye in pain, partly opening the other to examine the flute. It was glowing;it was doing something to him and he didn't like it.

He attempted to throw the flute, but to no avail; the flute stayed in his hand, emitting a piercing aura around him. He continued to struggle, but it did not work. Nothing worked. Falling to the ground, he moved himself over to lean his back against a wall, blood now forming from his hand. 'Did that...did that bitch just poison me with this thing?' he thought, as the pain he felt increased.

As he was going through the conclusion that the flute was a trap, everything instantly went blank. He wasn't able to see anything, even though he felt that his eyes were open. 'Did...I just die?" feelings of death started to wash over him as he started to see images of places. He saw an image of a little kid, a boy. This boy...was running around a tree with mask on. The mask itself, looked like it was made out of hay;the eyes, bearing striking resemblance to Murasame's from earlier, but red hay-like thread coming from the side of it. The kid looked very intent, wearing the mask as he joyfully peddled his body around the tree.

As Tatsumi was just about to call out to the boy, the vision changed. The picture, changed. His first person POV this time, seemed to be in a town. A town market to be exact. There were kids running all about, but when his vision panned to the right, it showed a tower. This tower, looking like it was about to fall over, held a bell in the middle of it. A giant bell, probably ringing at night or when special circumstances arrive, but that wasn't what caught his eye completely. There was a small, creature atop the tower.

This creature, was child-like in embodiment, wearing an outfit that looked like it should have been at a festival. Tatsumi couldn't tell if it was staring at him, or if he was staring at the creature's back. His question was answered, however; when the creature turned around to look at him. It was the same mask that kid running around the tree was wearing. After that, everything went black.

* * *

Tatsumi woke up, quickly feeling familiar hands wrapped around his waist. It took him a second to process his thought's;he swiftly realized he was in bed with Esdese. She had her hands wrapped around him, holding a tight grip on him. He had one single thought on his mind:Carlian. Where was it, and what the actual hell it did to him. He tried to get off the bed quietly, but any jerk or movement just made Esdese enforce her grip on him tighter.

Quickly growing impatient;Tatsumi turned his head towards Esdese, physically moving what he could in her tight grasp. They were swiftly face to face, making the embarrassment grow evermore higher. They did this every night. It was always like this. Whenever she was done with whatever political issue she had to deal with, she always wanted to have him. He had to be there with her, ensuring that he didn't run off.

Watching Esdese sleep, Tatsumi had memories flow back to him like a swift stream on a mountaintop. After he woke up on that fateful day, he had collars and chains on, locking him onto her bed, Esdese constantly tearing at him about Night Raid.

For a good solid month, Esdese would always tell him that he would pay for going against her in the war. She always said the same thing to him. " There is beauty in your suffering, Tatsumi. I will make you mine and only mine." In a weird and twisted way, he seemed to be growing onto it. The sheer thought of falling into her embrace felt so swell to him at the end of the day.

Tatsumi felt like he was in love. He knows that if Esdese was in turmoil, he would swiftly be on her side in battle to defend with her, but it wasn't because of the changing she did, or the manipulation. He felt like Esdese was a partner; a companion that was introduced to him for life. She was there through it all, just as he was. She was somewhat of a veteran friend in his mind.

The way she became the dwelling sorrow that broke the consolation in Tatsumi's mind every night while apart of Night Raid, it broke him down. After all this fight, after the Shikoutazer was dead, when she became the Empress, he fell for her. She was still in love with him, even after tearing down the empire she swore to protect, even after he nearly won her over in battle, she was still in love with him. He loved that.

After hesitating for a short moment, he muttered her name.

"Esdese, hey...Esdese."

He wore a shocked expression when she instantly opened her eyes, revealing her blue gaze, staring deep into him lovingly. As they exchanged wary gazes, she pulled him close and kissed him, passionately;later letting go of him, allowing him to slowly shift up into a sitting position on the bed.

"What is it, love?"

"How did I get here...?"

"How do you think...I found you unconscious in the briefing room, leaning up against a wall, Tatsumi."

"And you-"

"And I carried you here...It was near night when I found you. What exactly happened."

Esdese shifted from the bed, moving to tower over Tatsumi and lay her head on his, wrapping her arms around him;her long blue hair, dripping down from the bed to nearly engulf all of his back. A confused look spread across his face as he remembered Carlian. He needed that flute. Murasame said that flute would help him find the others; at least, that's what he thought she said.

"I uh...I-...was practicing, playing the flute!"

"Why were you playing a flute?" an annoyed expression appeared on Esdese' face.

"I Uh...thought...that maybe if I got really skilled with hit, I could play a song for you every night!"

A small seductive blush spread across Esdese' face as she gripped Tatsumi even tighter then before.

Tatsumi started to search for a way to ask where the flute was, but the feeling of Esdese chewing on his ear and licking his cheek made him flustered.

"Um. Esdese can we not do anything like that...right now?"

"Why not? We're a couple in love and I own you. I can do whatever I want with you, my love."

"OK...so I'm asking you that we not do anything intimate tonight."

"But you're teasing me with those faces of yours. Its your fault."

"How is it my fault-"

He was cut off by the feeling of Esdese kissing him, and straddling him. After pulling her head away form his for a brief moment, Esdese felt herself wanting more as he wore the same expression that made her fall in love with him.

"I'm not taking no for an answer."

She continued to force her way to intimacy, but halted when Tatsumi pushed her away.

"Can you just hear what I have to say for a minute?"

"No."

* * *

Tatsumi awoke in the very same position as he was left last night. He was lying on his back, nothing but his pants donned on his body. When he leaned up he quickly felt a stinging pain his his wrist and forearm. Gazing down upon them, he noticed red rashes from the Ice Esdese trapped his arms in, to avoid any resistance. Esdese wasn't there, and it appeared to be morning. The sunlight, shining down on the abnormally clean floor, bouncing off of objects and onto himself;into his eyes.

He got up from the bed and looked around for his coat;once again, wrinkled and thrown off of him. 'She really, really gets what she wants' he thought aloud. He got up to see himself in the reflection of the window, scratch marks all over his torso, visible biting evidence etc. Towering over his black coat, he leaned over and picked it up, firstly feeling around in the pockets to see if Carlian made its way into it.

That realization hit him like a slap in the face. Where was Carlian? Did Esdese take Carlian, furthermore, what if she found the book he was reading and ultimately figured out what his plan was? Did she lock it away? Did she put it up somewhere?

All of these questions formed into an angry and irritated expression on Tatsumi's face as he donned his black coat. Incursio was in the corner, looking as withered as always.

A relieved feeling washed over him as pulled the flute out of the side pocket of the coat, directly after brushing the non-existent dust off of his coat. After he realized he was holding it he quickly flinched and prepared for the worst, as the memories of the visions came into mind. After realizing that nothing was happening, he put the flute back in the pocket and looked for the book;scanning around the room to only find the sheets made, a collar on a nightstand, and a makeshift clock that seemed to have fallen on the floor.

He started to walk for the door to leave for the briefing room before the same dread and pain filled his very soul. The same vision pain, the same Carlian effect that happened, even more intense. He quickly fell to the floor in a shriek of pain, having yet another black out happen.

As he tried to move in the blackness once again, he was taken to a vision. This vision was a still glance. It glanced at a map, having seven markers on seven different locations. He was quickly taken aback, as this was the exact same map that he bought from the market clerk.

* * *

Tatsumi's eyes were white. They were pure, pure white. He moved around, running into the bed post, the leery sound of the squeaking of his feet against the clean floor echoing inside the bedroom. He went to the night stand and pulled out a pen;looking for the nearest piece of flattened wood to write something on it.

He settled for some crumpled up notes the now possessed Tatsumi found in the corner of the room, and un-raveled them to only start crudely writing on it.

What he drew on the notes, was the map that he saw in that glance from Carlian. He now had a map. He had a map that pin-pointed where the Teigu were. At least, that's what he thought. He needed to find these Teigu. He needed to find Murasame.

* * *

 **So, it looks like the site functionality problem was fixed after all. I can see the reviews, and all the pretty people giving this story support! Thank you for the feedback, as always; it is appreciated. Got an extra long chapter for you guys here, next one will be live tomorrow, well I guess technically it should be live today, considering this is going up at 4:00 in the morning. Expect another chapter very soon!**

 **\- Jambles**


	5. Show me your Comrade's Compendium

**Heavy modifications will be done to this chapter as time passes before the next is uploaded. - Jambles**

* * *

The shiny, squeaky clean floor in the small quarters glistened as Tatsumi awoke, leaning against the bed. He immediately remembered everything that happened.

His first course of action was instantaneous. He swiftly stood on his feet, holding the crumpled note that slowly revealed itself as a makeshift map. He opened the door of the bedroom and left, swiftly walking towards the briefing room, and always along with the still withered Incursio.

Inside the briefing room he found Wave, in his normal fur-coat attire, but Kurome was no where to be seen;he assumed she was still asleep considering it felt pretty early.

Tatsumi made his way towards Wave and made a friendly gesture, sitting down next to him.

"Morning, Tatsumi." he said with a tired tone.

"Yeah, morning..."

"So, how are you and Kurome?"

"We're fine, its just the overall thought of getting back to assassinations soon is a bit annoying. I just want to go somewhere with Kurome and live...live where there's friendly people around every corner, you know? A place without sadness...that whole fight with the Shikoutazer really opened my eyes. I want to tell Kurome so many things but I know that it will just end up into complete sadness at some point or another, even if the Capital is suppressed."

"I know how you feel."

"I just wish that we can have a happy end for once."

"Wave, mark my words. Once I find this Teigu, we will have a happy end. I promise you that."

"Screw it. I need adventure, Tatsumi. I'm tired of this constant moping around and stupid work. In always makes me think of the sadder times."

"What-"

"Tatsumi. The things you said the other day...I've been thinking about it all night. You want to look for this Teigu, correct?"

Wave slammed his hands onto the table;startling Tatsumi.

"Yes, I really look forward to finding it. So far, it's been the only thing that has made me happy the past week. Knowing that there is something I can do to bring my friends...no...my family back-"

"Exactly! We could bring Bols back, and his family too! Could you imagine the look on their faces when we tell them that we can live without having to assassinate anybody anymore? We could all live in peace. Enjoy a life where there is no sorrow!"

Tatsumi had this warm feeling inside of him. He now had companions that were on board with looking for the Teigu. In a weird and twisted way, he found himself thinking that this adventure would not only be fun, but that once he found the Teigu, he would take his family out for vacation;away from it all;no more fighting.

After snapping out of the train his mind created for ideas of activity when resurrection came about, Tatsumi spoke up.

"Wave. Will you help me find and track this Teigu down?"

"You're damn right I'm in.

"I'm sick of this Capital, I'm sick of it all. I should have noticed what was going on as soon as I joined the Jeagers. Wherever you're going Tatsumi, whatever you're looking for, count me in as well.'

"Would Kurome be coming along too?"

"Of course, Tatsumi is that even a question?"

"I...I mean does she want to?"

"I'll ask her."

Tatsumi was quickly surprised as Wave walked out of the room in a simple instant. It was like he just disappeared out of thin air. Surprising him even further, Wave immediately came back into the room with Kurome, who looked weirdly awake for being asleep just now.

"What is it Wave, I was sleeping..." Kurome let out a huge yawn as she enaged wave in a sideways hug.

"Kurome. Tatsumi here has found the pathway to a Teigu that can bring others back from the dead. I was wondering if you would want to help him find it, and by that, I mean leaving this hell hole." he said while allowing Kurome to lean her head on his shoulder.

"Really...you really think that there is a Teigu that can do that...you two are so naive." she wore a blank, worn expression.

"Except there is. There has to be. Listen, can I tell you two something?"

"Anything Tatsumi, we're comrades." Wave responded. Kurome let go of wave, and rubbed her eyes in an annoyed gesture.

Tatsumi reached into the right pocket of his coat to pull out the flute, Carlian. Fearing that he was to see more visions when grasping the piece of metal, he put it down on the table, causing Kurome and Wave to look at it in confusion.

"Its a flute." Kurome spoke in hindsight.

"Y-Yes, but it isn't just an ordinary flute. This is a Teigu called Carlian, it is supposed to be able to control time-"

"Control time?!" Wave expressed in awe.

"Well, yeah...I figured you would have read the book when I slid it over to you the other day-Anyways. The only thing that has managed to happen so far are visions."

"V-visions..." Wave wore a confused expression, trying to figure out an explanation.

"Yeah, and they were weird ones too. I saw some kid in a mask running around a tree. The mask, well, it had this white pupil-black eye like look to it. I think the mask had red marks below it's eyes too...I can't quite remember."

"Do you think its maybe the Teigu evolving?"

"No. I think its telling me where these Teigu are. Considering when I woke up this morning, I had a map that I remembered writing up last night, but I couldn't tell when I started to write the map, all I knew, was that I made it."

"Why don't we get going then?"

"I know, I wish to leave as soon as possible too, Wave, but thats the biggest problem I have right now."

"What is that?"

"Esdese. I don't think shes going to be supportive of this at all..."

"That is true...she has some obsessions with you that are just over the top, man."

"Do you think she could come along with us?"

"No! Of course not!" wave yelled; remembering the sheer words and torture that very dripped from Esdese' aura.

"I can try to make her understand but every-time I've usually done that, it has been sort of reversed."

"Exactly, lets just leave, calmly, right out the front door." Wave wore an irritated expression.

Tatsumi thought of just how Esdese would react to the situation. Would she chain him up like she did a few times in the past months? Would she go through great lengths to destroy everything that I've found?

* * *

"Y-...You guys go pack your stuff or whatever you want...I-...I'll be waiting for you, I need to pack some food and...I have some things I need to take care of."

"Alright. Kurome, you want to get going now?"

"I guess I don't have much of a choice considering you pulling me out of bed and your cute face when you got all excited."

* * *

Esdese...she rose into power two weeks directly after this whole thing. She had absolutely no issue getting votes, not that it was the choice of the people anyways;everything seemed to be some sort of trap with The Capital. Tatsumi couldn't help but feel for Esdese. The way she changed him, the things she did, this was all her fault that he felt this way; and she loved it.

Tatsumi constantly searched through his mind for a scenario that would work **in** bringing her along with them, but they always ended with her forceful attitude and careless antics. The question he thought of, quickly beckoning his mind as he thought clearly. She can't just leave her throne now can she...If she is Empress, then she must have some sort of mental ropes gripping her down. He sighed, gripping the handles of his backpack;the package itself being the most nostalgic artifact in his inventory. He wore this bag the very same day he met Leone and got swindled out of his money.

He cursed her for making him feel this way. Their...relations...made him more attached then he thought he'd ever be. This is Esdese he thinking of.

* * *

As the dawn rose into the now separate evening air, The trio made their way along the dirt pathway. Wave, Kurome, and Tatsumi. The three that would find these Teigu and bring their friends...no their family back from sorrow.

* * *

 **I want to apologize for this one not being as long as it was supposed to. I was wanting to cut this nearly 5,000 chapter I wrote today into two, but I conceited against it. Next chapter will be far, far more lengthier and uploaded soon.**

 **That being said,**

 **B for Bols? - Jambles**


	6. Show me your Critical Cliffhanger

Inside an alcohol ridden airspace, Tatsumi sat at one of the many booths in the small pub. Wave, Kurome, and him were taking a stop after walking for a long while. They came across a small town in between where they were going. These were very common to find in almost any parts of the land, considering beer and alcohol were pretty popular at the time.

He didn't ask for alcohol, he just wanted water and a place to stay for a while. Most pubs had an Inn, but this one seemed like one of the rarities. It wasn't night-time anyways, so he figured they'd set out on search for an inn within another town soon. Their adventure was going so smoothly, but there was one, substantial problem.

Esdese had already sent people looking for him. He had to constantly put up with avoiding visual servants from her. In a way, he didn't mind it. He knew that she would find him sooner or later, but his plan: Get so far into the quest that she would have to join him. Sure, being an Empress has to be tiring, but really, how many more people are left in the Capital or world to assassinate?

He was glad that she was looking for him. He wanted her to be apart of the group.

Tatsumi snapped out of this thoughts when one of the waitresses lightly tapped him on the shoulder;causing him to give out a surprised reaction. This made her jump as well.

"I-I'm sorry you scared me." Tatsumi said, clearing his throat.

"N-no its my fault. I stared at you for a minute, I was wondering what you were doing, guess you were in deep thought." she said while embarrassed. She wore a strikingly resemblance outfit to Kurome. The all black attire, except she had white hair. He couldn't say it was the same hairstyle, her hair was pretty long. Her figure donned an odd resemblance to Akame's.

"Ah...well what do you need?"

"I was wondering if you needed anything else."

"No, I'm ok. Thanks for the thought, though."

"C-Can I sit next to you?" she asked, leaning closer to Tatsumi.

"Yeah, sure."

He moved over in the cushioned seat, allowing her to get directly close to him. They were almost touching each other.

"So. How has your day been?"

"It's been better, considering I'm finally out of the Capital."

"That place is pretty big and inconvenient isn't it."

"You are so right."

"Your name is Tatsumi...right?"

"Y-Yeah how did you-"

"A lot of the people that pass through here talk about how envious they are that you are with the Ice Queen so much. Its not any bad talk, just people that wish they were you apparently."

"I gotta give it to those people, I envy them for wanting my position. I didn't think I'd want it but somehow, things turned out that way."

"Uh..M-Mister Tatsumi you kind of confused me there, what exactly did you say again?"

"I'm sorry I just get lost in thought a whole lot."

"Oh. Yeah, I can see now." she let out a giggle and scooted closer to him.

"So where are you heading next?"

"W-well, its kind of confidential."

"Oh...so Mister Tatsumi is on a mission he is?"

"Yes, but its not what you would think. Its my own kind of mission."

"That's really cool! You're looking for Falorin, correct?" she wore that same giggling sound that pierced Tatsumi's soul.

Tatsumi widened is eyes and glanced over at her. She had this look in her eyes, he couldn't quite explain it, but it looked like she just saw her best friend burned in fire, her eyes looked, blank, it a weird sort of way.

"How did you know that."

"I know everything about you Tatsumi."

This conversation only caused Tatsumi's eyes to widen even further and a bit of sweat to drip down his cheek.

"I know where you were last night, where you're going, I know what you wore yesterday, I know what you ate, I know you and your Teigu, and I always see where you're going. I know everything about you Tatsumi. I know that you found the book. I know-"

"How do you know all of this, may I ask?" He put his hand on the broken Incursio.

"I love you, that's why. I love you so much Tatsumi. Ever since, ever since I saw you in that Market, I knew that I had to follow you...I knew that I-"

"I'm going to leave now."

She moved closer to him, putting her hands on his shoulders, trying to kiss him, but he pushed her back with higher force.

"I thought you were a waitress-"

"Nope. I just followed you here." she let out another one of those giggles.

"I'm leaving now."

He shoved her aside, making her stumble as she was forced out of the seat, Tatsumi leaving his water beverage to move accordingly to all the rumblings underneath and next to the table.

"You can't deny me."

Tatsumi ignored her, and walked swiftly towards the pub door. As he had the door halfway open, revealing a crack of sunlight to come through the designed wood, he halted at what he heard.

" I know exactly where Falorin is. I also have a distinct location to where Murasame is."

"You're lying."

"You want me to prove it?"

Tatsumi walked out of the pub, allowing himself to lean on a nearby tree, underneath the branches, giving him ounces of shade every now and then, dirt falling off of his black coat.

He didn't notice her already next to him, nearly grabbing his hand. Her talking made him jump once again.

"All you have to do is let me come along, and let me love you."

"How about you tell me where it is or I'll kill you?"

"You want to make a scene in the middle of a some-what public rest stop? Go ahead, Tautsy~"

He hated this. In almost every event, almost every moment, he seemed to have gotten used by someone or something. This girl might be using him to get to Falorin, or one of the Teigu. Wait, that didn't make sense because she knew where they were. He could use her to receive the Teigu. She didn't seem like a Teigu user, but unfortunately appearances are the biggest weapons you need to watch out for. He sealed that fact when he met Seryu.

After giving it hard thought, Tatsumi let his guard down and started to talk with her, ignoring the fact that she had her arm wrapped around him;causing them both to lean against the now partly shaded underlying of the tree.

"Why do you love somebody like me? You could be deceiving me."

"I could name many things...You always want to help if there is a child or somebody in dire trouble. You would always throw yourself into danger knowing that it would protect your comrades. You're cute, you're cool, did I mention you're cute? You-"

He felt himself shocked by her. He was becoming even more uncomfortable because of her constant inching towards his face and hugging him, causing her chest to touch him while she was talking about him. Embarrassment spread across his face as he scurried away from her grasp and started to talk to her again.

"You said you knew where Falorin was?"

"Yes...I believe you marked it on that map you made too."

"H-how the hell do you know so much? Have you been watching me this whole-"

"Yes, I know where you sleep, and what you have done in the past week."

"You...you are creepy."

"If myself being creepy gets me closer to you, then I don't care."

Tatsumi was about to say something but she cut him off and continued talking.

"-I know where it is, and which location to go to on that tattered map you made. It's a local cemetery located just outside of one of the most noted towns. Its a neat little town, I've been there a lot. Really country town. It's called Fellridge.

"Fellridge?" Tatsumi muttered to himself, again jumping at the fact that she had her arm wrapped around his without noticing again.

"How do you do that so fast?"

"It's my Teigu."

"So you are a Teigu user."

"Yeah silly, why would I know where Murasame was?"

"I see...are you ever going to let go of my arm?"

"No." she let out another one of those giggles.

"Look, can you take us to Murasame and help us find Falorin?"

"What a big request."

"You're the one that got into my face about it."

"I'm teasing you, Tautsy~"

"Please don't call me that. That is ridiculous and it should never come out of anybody's mouth ever again."

"Tautsy."

She loved his expressions, and she was acting a whole lot like Esdese.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"You're such an idiot Tatsumi. I'm Murasame you nitwit."

"You-"

"The evil eyes? With the demonic eyes?"

"You."

"I'm Murasame, and I know exactly where Falorin, Trakunikiss, Murasame, Lionel, Pumpkin, and lots of others. I know all of their locations, do you want proof?"

She cut him off speaking again, this time causing Tatsumi to get very irritated, shuffling his hands in a fit of frustration.

"Do you even remember making that map?"

"No."

"Because I made it. I took control of you and I made it..."

"How the hell can you say that so easily? You couldn't have let me know that you were about to hop into my soul?"

"You wouldn't have let me!" she stuck her tongue out of her mouth with a cat-face like expression. She really did seem like a sneaky, sneaky demonic cat.

"So are you possessing this poor girl?"

"No, this is me, actually."

"I have lots of questions for you."

"Well, lets get to them, as we get the road because I don't want to stay in that pub any longer. It sucked waiting for you there."

Wave and Kurome peered from a stone wall, very subtly revealing themselves to Tatsumi and Murasame.

"Cheating on Esdese already, I see." Kurome said, with a teasing expression.

"Anybody would cheat on her, shes a blue embodiment of evil!" Wave exclaimed.

Tatsumi was very embarrassed at this point, and to his dismay, Murasame was doing nothing but giggling while holding his arm.

"G-guys it isn't what it looks like, ok? She knows where the Teigu's are, like direct knowledge. If you guys would be alright with it, shes coming with us to find the Teigu."

"I don't have a problem with it, the more the merrier." Wave said.

"Just let us keep our personal space." Kurome responded.

Kurome noticed that Tatsumi wasn't wearing his hood and started to glare at him. This was a constant issue that happened all morning. Tatsumi wouldn't put his hood up to disguise himself so people wouldn't report them to Esdese or her group.

"Put your damn hood on Tatsumi!"

In a jerking reaction, he swiftly put his hood on, Murasame's arm still locked with his, her expression wearing a very content feeling.

"I don't want to deal with another one of her goons or clowns, do you know how annoying it is to fight soldiers using a broken Teigu?!"

"Calm down Kurome, my hood is on." Tatsumi put the one hand he could out to notion a stopping signal with his hand, shaking it lightly.

"You haven't been the one fighting these idiots...at least have a little more-"

"Alright Kurome, I get it."

Wave let out a huge sigh.

"Let's get going to the next town, guys. We can't risk anything further. Murasame, do you have like a bag, or something?"

"I'm not bound to terrestrial restraints." she said, with a smirk on her face.

"Are you an actual person, and not just a sword?" Wave asked.

"Yes. I was the spirit that was trapped inside that weapon for a long time, but for some reason, After the death of, well, my user...I woke up, in my normal body again. It had been years since I was, but now, I am free from that restraint, and I am now a Teigu User of my own. I left the sword you guys call my name in the hands of an acquaintance I've gotten to trust. In Fellridge."

"Fellridge is the next town we are heading to." Tatsumi said."

"Alright." Wave and Kurome said in unison.

Wave grabbed Tatsumi's shoulder as the group intertwined to start walking together.

"You're carrying some of the bags this time."

"Fine." Tatsumi wearyingly said.

* * *

Halfway on the road to Fellridge, Wave sparked up a conversation after the group had stopped talking for an extended period of time. Murasame, with her white hair, black outfit and strapped boots just let out an evil aura to him. He couldn't quite explain it. Kurome walking with a tire-some look on her face and Tatsumi just content as always. It seemed like they all were happy to be out of the capital, excluding the..."Murasame" of course.

"It doesn't make any sense."

"What?" the rest of the group responded, walking down the pathway, covered in dried up mud and cracks in the dirt. The grass slowly moved with the wind as the dust sprung off the convenient path.

"Murasame, you said you were trapped inside that Teigu, right?"

"Yes."

"Does that mean that all Teigu have spirits trapped inside them?"

"No, no that is nonsense."

"I was trapped in it by an old black smith that had a unique capability. He could merge other powers with Teigu to make them more powerful...but the cost of that was another user's entire existence. I was on the run for a long, long time, because the Emperor during that time had just took the throne; he wanted me captured and put into a Teigu for himself. They eventually found me and you could guess what happened after that...I don't like to talk about it."

Everybody had a sense of curiosity looming over them as they passed through a sign and archway, not paying attention to any of the signs saying "Welcome to Fellridge".

"Murasame was made after that incident, and it's power was formidable. The sword that Akame uses, it has half its power now that I am gone...but the power and aura of the demon is still in there. The very way it was forged was in treachery. I don't know how exactly Akame got her hands on it. The very reason I'm able to walk and talk now here back into the normal world is, its all thanks to Tatsumi."

"M-me?"

"Yes. When you woke up from your death, I saw it all."

"What did you see?"

"I saw an eagle, this fiery, really omniscient, transparent eagle, fly down and touch you. I don't know what it was...but it looked amazing. It was like somebody called God and told him to bring you back from the dead."

"Where were you when-"

"I was gazing through Akame's eyes. She...didn't make it."

Tatsumi exchanged glances over at Kurome, who looked very stale at the thought of Akame. He spoke up loudly so that he could make sure Kurome knew that he was directing it at her.

"We're going to bring her back, don't you worry about it. We are bringing all of our family back." Tatsumi said.

* * *

With everybody donning consoled faces, the group made its way to the entrance of Fellridge. It was indeed very country, the town itself bearing lots of resemblance to Tatsumi's old village town.

Tatsumi was still in awe about Murasame. He didn't know how she came to be manifested like this, or if she was using him. He didn't know if she was a demon, or if she was actually telling the truth.

How is she walking about like this? How did she just appear?

Tatsumi snapped out of deep thought once again as she lightly slapped him on the shoulder.

"Do you want me to show you to Falorin and Murasame now?"

"Is it really that simple?"

"Yeah, I'm me after-all. Everything can be simple with Murasame."

"You're saying that like I've known you forever..."

"Well you kind of have...in-directly of course."

Tatsumi took a glance over at Wave and Kurome, they both wore very tired expressions. He mentally thanked them for coming along with him on this mission. He would have never thought he'd be looking for Teigu's with former enemies.

Those very thoughts dwindled on his mind every night when he drifted off to sleep.

'How many compassionate, out-going hard workers have served the Empire not knowing...'

'What kind of Eagle would want to bring me back to life? It sounded stupid. It sounded idiotic. Why would there be any embodiment wanting to bring me back to life like this...was it because it wanted me to find these Teigu? Maybe it wanted us to live on.'

'Who the hell were the kids in the masks? It doesn't make any sense. This is like a horrible, horrible story, written very poorly...'

'Just how many,potentially good people have I killed?'

* * *

As Tatsumi walked with Murasame down the narrow pathway in between wooden housing, the duo did not notice the blue hair glistening in the wind as Esdese watched them both, from behind the very same entrance.

* * *

 ** Sorry it took a bit longer to update, but that won't happen again. _[_** _ **I had to help a friend get his account back from a hacker(We are both Legacy Players of the video game: Destiny, so story is: some guy very angry at him for reporting him said hey, I'm going to hack you, and he did. Its all fixed now! We got the guy)].**_

 **Next chapter will be uploaded soon, and from then on, if no hindrances, one or two chapters a day.**

 **Who am I kidding? There is bound to be another hindrance at some point...this is life you're talking about, man!**

 **Thank you guys for reading and reviewing, it really does help me.**

 **Also, it seems I had some punctuation errors in earlier chapters, I swore I proof-read a whole lot. Ah well, good thing you can go back and change them, which will be my adventure after I upload this.**

 **You guys remember that you can do anything, anything you want. Triumph and live on happily!**

 **\- Jambles**


	7. Show me your Susceptible Whereabouts

**Heavy modifications will be done to this chapter as it goes live. - Jambles**

* * *

Tatsumi stood on the very wet grass, dew drops glistening in the rising sunlight. He was staring intently at Murasame, who was sleeplessly struggling to dig in a spot where grass filled the area.

"Are you going to help me, or are you going to make a lady do all the damn work?!" she yelled, very irritated.

"O-Oh...yeah, sure."

Tatsumi walked over and grabbed the fancy shovel she managed to probably steal, and took over digging in the spot. The spot was now deep enough to put your feet in. Murasame wiped the sweat off her head and in a feat of annoyance, flicked Tatsumi over the forehead.

"You really don't know how to treat the woman who loves you, do you?"

"Murasame, I've already told you, that wouldn't work, and I still don't understand-"

"You never told me anything! What the hell are you talking about?"

"Ok, maybe I didn't, but I still don't know about-"

"We are digging, right here, right now. This is where Falorin is, I swear by it. I really do like you, Tatsumi. Its a shame you're stupid enough to not know the-"

"You aren't in love with me, you simply appreciate that I somehow got you out of that trap of a sword."

"I...whatever." she said, while visibly blushing.

Esdese watched from nearby cover, shivering in annoyance as she watched the white haired demon talk and scurry about. She was already upset about Tatsumi leaving her without her knowledge, but now he was talking with another girl, digging up some Teigu. If she wasn't wrong, she would assume he was starting a new night raid or something along the lines. She couldn't let that happen, she didn't want him gone. He was hers, and he was now fleeing, and with her former Jeagers too. As she was about to reveal herself to them both, she stopped shuffling from around the cornered wall when she heard something interesting.

"So this is Falorin..."

Murasame swiftly bent down to retrieve what they started digging up. Tatsumi also bent down, intrigued by what he saw her pulling out. It was indeed, chest armor, more or less the same type of outfit he was wearing. He could tell it was black, and that it had lining on each end piece of the cloth. The lines were basically outlining the entire coat.

"Murasame, do you mind if I put this on?"

"Are you joking, Tatsumi? That thing is very, very dirty, you'd probably want to clean it before even attempting that."

"I guess you're right..."

"Are you stupid or something?"

"No, I just didn't get sleep last night..."

"Why?"

"I couldn't stop thinking about things last night. I couldn't stop thinking about how abrupt the last few days have been. How exactly did you know that I was looking for these, and how do you know where it is?"

"These Teigu are old, very old. You can even say they're prehistoric."

"When my soul was sealed in that damn sword, I saw many Teigu and many things happen through the eyes of technically, my wielder..."

"Have you seen everything through Akame's eyes?"

"Yes, I have indeed. This trump card that she spoke of, that would be me."

"And about the Carlian?"

"I've had that hidden in a place for a long while. Carlian was my father's, before all of the turmoil that happened, he told me to bury it in a far-away place...After doing so that mad man emperor made me into a Teigu."

"That couldn't have been good with your mental state, were you literally trapped in a dark room or something like that? That is simply unforgivable."

"No, it wasn't nothing like a cell, it was more along the lines of, 'hey, you take the guard, I'm going to lay down for a while' kind of thing."

"So, you were Akame, or part of Akame?"

"I was apart of her, yes...but I wasn't Akame herself. She was Akame, I am Murasame."

"I've been thinking about this all night."

"What else do you have on your mind?"

The dirtied up black coat shriveled down as Murasame let her hand slowly lower, causing the bottom of the dirtied cloak to brush the wet grass.

"Did you possess me when I had that map?"

"Yep~"

"How can you say it so easily?!"

"Come on, we're friends right?"

"I guess. You did approach me out of nowhere, you know? Do you know how weird and creepy it was looking at Akame with your demon like eyes?"

Tatsumi was visibly irritated, having the appearance of Murasame the fist time before taken a toll on his mental state. He knew he had the key to bring his friends back, but seeing an embodiment of Akame made him emotionally unstable. They were his family, and the only thing he took from her appearance was that she was a demon trying to screw around with his feelings like any other definition of a demon would.

"I am sorry for that, but that was the only way I could have gotten to you...If I was a normal girl saying that stuff to you...You would have easily brushed me off as some local girl trying to get closer to the empire's strongest."

Tatsumi tried to search for something to say, but she had him. He would have probably done that. She knew him too well.

"Shes the Empress now, as a matter of fact."

"Oh~ Big bad Empress~ So scary..." The sarcasm was dripping from Murasame's voice.

Tatsumi gazed over closely at her to find that she was sticking her tongue out with her finger on her eye. It was quite a mischievous expression.

"She really is scary...but she isn't my priority, aren't we going to clean this thing then?"

"We sort of got off in a tangent, huh? Its only because I love talking to you so much Tautsy~"

"Please don't start that crap again...I never expected you to ever be, y'know. YOU."

"You'd better believe it now, because you're going to go insane if you don't accept it."

"I will find the story behind all this. I will."

"We will.~"

As the duo began kicking dirt back into the now cyclonic looking mess of a whole, Esdese decided to reveal herself. Tatsumi and Murasame, having finished half-asked burying the empty space, they both halted when an icicle like spear flew past both of them, oddly close to their faces. Standing in shock, they both looked at each other, slowly inching close to one another.

"Esdese...please hear me out." Tatsumi said, with a serious tone in his voice.

"Why did you leave Tatsumi? I thought we were on pretty great terms...but now you leave to find these so called Teigu?"

"How much did you hear?" Tatsumi wore a grim expression, letting his hair cover his eyes.

"I heard enough. Why didn't you tell me about these Teigu Tatsumi?"

"Because you wouldn't have let me leave to find them."

"Of course not! I would have officials find them for us...you don't need to worry about such things when you are mine, Tatsum-"

"That's my biggest problem with you Esdese!"

She wore a mildly surprised expression. She couldn't believe that he had done this without consulting her, she thought that he loved her unconditionally. She did change him. That much was true, but the passion to bring back his family had made his soul go out on a limb, a limb that was slowly growing upwards towards the path of knowledge.

"And who is this little-"

"I'm Murasame. I have to say, you aren't as scary as people make you out to be." Sarcasm still lingering from Murasame's voice.

"Really now? Then how about I-"

"Esdese, knock it off!"

Esdese quickly lunged forward and grabbed Tatsumi' by the front of his coat, lifting him up with ease; as it was happening, he didn't seem to wear a surprised expression. This kind of thing seemed to be routine with him.

"You can do whatever. Go ahead, throw me down, thrash me around, whatever makes you feel better."

Esdese let go of him, allowing him to slap her hands; in an effort to release himself from her grip.

"Come with us, Esdese."

"I'll freeze hell over myself before that happens, you are coming with me, Tatsumi. We are going back home and you are issued a punishment."

"What am I to you? Some sort of outlet? Is that all? A possession to own?"

"You are mine. I own you, therefore you are to do what I say, always-"

"All I want is my family. I want my family back, Esdese. Do you understand what family is? What is family to you? Or are you that cold inside?"

"Tatsumi, you know me well enough to understand that I have no intention of-"

"Do I know you? Because all you've managed to do with me these past months are keep me by your side, have me train for no reason, and just use me as some sort of-

"Do what I say."

Tatsumi couldn't help but feel dread. He...there was a part of him that didn't think it was correct, but he fell for her. She...

"No. I am looking for this Teigu, and there is nothing you can do to stop me."

"Really now..." Esdese was visibly angry, very, angry.

She absolutely loathed this situation. Tatsumi was a loyal follower ever since she changed him during those first few weeks after the battle against Night Raid. Now, he finds these Teigu, and hes suddenly back to trying to avoid her? If he brought back Night Raid, they would surely try to over-throw her.

Thoughts popped into her head as Tatsumi drew the withered Incursio, ready to defend himself. If there truly was a Teigu that could bring people back to life, could she bring Seryu back? She grew fond of her soldiers, even if she didn't show it.

"My love...you still can't take the truth. You and me were the last ones remaining on that battlefield, does that still not tell you something? We are meant for each other. You are mine...why are you resisting so much? What is so bad about it?"

"Esdese, this Teigu is my last hope. I want my friends and family back...there is no reason for fighting anymore. There is no reason for this shit anymore...I...I love you Esdese. I want you to help me on this quest, I don't want us to fight, I want...I want..."

He loved her. He didn't want to fight her anymore, he wanted her to be with him. He wished that she wasn't the stone cold Empress, he wished that she would have met him without any knowledge of the Capital.

Tatsumi was getting visibly upset, allowing Esdese to grin in fulfillment, knowing full well that she changed him completely. He wanted her to accompany her on this little tangent, because he really did love her. That meant she could even push him further. She could make him stronger, and with that solution, she could conquer and own him when he got even stronger then her.

She bathed in that subject;conquering him once he reached his full potential. She decided to give him some slack;evil scenarios playing out in her mind.

"You said that you would let me do anything to you? No resisting?"

"When did I say that? I don't remember saying that."

Tatsumi wore an irritated and upset expression. He was mildly surprised when Esdese started cheerfully chuckling.

"Did you guys forget about me?" Murasame spoke out-loud.

"I will accompany you on this adventure, my love." she let her guard down and swiftly kissed Tatsumi. He was trying to push her away, but once again, she was stronger in force.

"-but hear this, Tatsumi. You will do whatever I say without any of your repent for however long I want."

"Fine."

"Who do you belong to?"

"Don't start that, please...Its bad enough-"

"Who do you belong to?~"

"Y-you."

Tatsumi wore the same angry expression. The irritation has never been so much clearer. ' _How the hell did she even find us?_ ' he thought to himself. ' _How did she get out of her duties of being Empress? Surely there was something to be done at every moment..._ ' he added.

"You guys are the weirdest couple I've ever seen. After pointless arguing that went all over the place, and nearly clashing Teigu's together, you are just now all fine and dandy? Is is really a healthy relationship?" Murasame added.

"It's probably not." Tatsumi muttered.

"I think its a wonderful relationship." Esdese added.

* * *

Tatsumi knelt silently at the river cap, using a washboard to clean Falorin. He wiped his head off with the sleeve of his coat.

There had to be others looking for these Teigu. Of course, Murasame did say that she planted the book there for him to see, but that still didn't answer the question;what was that eagle that hovered above him when she saw him?

Shaking his head in an annoyed expression, he pulled Falorin and the washboard out of the water. It was very faint, but in the distance he could hear Esdese arguing with Wave, Kurome and Murasame. It sounded like they were having an insult match.

Flipping Falorin around and further inspecting it, Tatsumi found that it had an emblem on the back of it. It was a face, but it was sort of crying. Just like the kid in the mask that was running around that tree. At that very moment, it hit him. He remembered something he had to ask of Murasame. She said something about "The Emperor's Mask", but he never told her anything about the vision like trances he had.

With the image of the kid in the mask sinked into his mind, he started to make out lots of similarities between the chest armor and the mask. The color scheme was the same, almost as if a cult made it. Leaning it over his arm, he stood up with Falorin and the washboard in the other hand.

He continued to make his way towards the bickering, his wet arm dripping water on the soft soil as he did so. He halted when he saw the four of them facing each other, literally just talking with each other. This seemed rather odd to him;expecting Esdese to try and take control of the group. He knew she had something planned, but he was rather happy that she even decided to tag along with him. The conversation that they had earlier, it went all over the place. 'I guess I've been a little out of it today.' he thought. A sharp, pained expression curved across his face.

Tatsumi felt a sharp pain in his side, causing him to fall down;directly dropping to the ground. The sound of the shuddered collapse caused the other four bickering bodies to race to him, all asking him what was wrong in some way or another.

As he fell into a dazed, knocked out state, he heard a familiar voice.

"I'll always come to save you."

* * *

 _Carlian - A flute that has given Tatsumi weird instances of phases and visions when in possession of it. It is said to have the ability to control time to some extent._

 _Falorin - A piece of chest armor said to have the ability to allow the owner to wield multiple Teigu._

 _Trakunikiss - A Teigu that is said to hold the ability of resurrection._


	8. Show me your Abrupt Association

"Akame..."

Tatsumi muttered to himself as he opened his tired eyes, leaning up, driving himself away from laying down. His vision became less blurry as he made out Esdese sitting next to him, closely watching him.

"What happened?" Tatsumi asked, in a very tired tone.

"You fell down out of nowhere. It was like somebody hit you with an arrow. No need to worry, I carried you all the way here and slayed anybody in my way because of our undying bond~" she went off on a tangent.

Tatsumi could clearly understand that she was trying to show off;a similar act in portrayal to that incident with those danger beasts, during their second meeting.

"Where is everybody else?"

"They're off doing whatever. I think Wave mentioned something about taking a gaze around the town. You don't need to worry about them."

Tatsumi was about to respond to her before she swiftly kissed him, forcefully. This was enough to make him move backwards a bit on the bed, causing him to grunt in a small fit of pain. As she removed her lips from his, she allowed herself to lean back into her chair, staring intently at him. She wanted to do so many things to him, punish him for running away, just like she would have if they were back in her quarters. That's the main problem she had to get used to, they weren't in her chambers. Now, she had to handle a kid's dealing. If she were to tag along with her lover, she would take him up on his word to do anything she wanted, without him ever being rebellious about it.

Esdese planned for a full domination over Tatsumi. Once he reached his full potential;as strong as he could get, she planned to tear him down. Loom over him in a assertive manner, having the most badass family ever to be known. It didn't take her devil or angel on her shoulders to let her know that he was cute. Every movement and expression he made, she loved and cherished it. He was hers and if anybody said otherwise, they wouldn't be breathing after she was done with them.

"Just what are you looking for, my love?" she asked in a calm tone.

"I'm looking for a Teigu, and this Teigu is called 'Trakunikiss'."

"That's an odd name, tell me the reason."

"It can bring others back from the dead."

"I know that's what you were all flailing cutely yesterday about."

"Please don't tease me right now...I have a huge headache."

"I could make you feel better really quickly~" she said, with a seductive grin.

Tatsumi was once again cut off from his words when she pushed him down onto the bed, forcefully with one hand, allowing the other to freely explore his torso. Tatsumi pushed her back, reaching his hand to place it on hers and move it away. She leaned up, now it a sitting position on top of him, irritated in manner.

"Tatsumi, come now. Are you really going to do this again?"

"Esdese, I have a huge headache..."

Esdese laid her head down on his chest,allowing her long hair to cover nearly both of their lower halves.

"Are you really able to just take leave as an Empress?"

"That's one of the perks, my love. I can do pretty much whatever I want. That includes looking for a scurrying lover~"

She moved herself up to Tatsumi's face, gently laying her head next to his neck, making it available for him to feel her breathing. This caused him to become a bit embarrassed, but that was her goal, to see his face and him like this again. It had only been three days since they've been this close, but to Esdese it felt like three months. He had gotten used to this, but its been an extended period of time before it's happened like this again.

"So, where is our next stop?" Esdese asked with a sarcastic tone, moving her head and eyes to face Tatsumi dead center.

"We're looking for Trakunikiss but I want to follow where Murasame is taking me and find a sword that she's been talking about. Together with the chest armor we found, I should be able to use it easily, that way, finding Trakunikiss is all the more easier. There is bound to be people looking for it;I can't be the only one with dead family or friends."

"Murasame is that white haired girl, correct?"

"Yeah. She sort of appeared out of nowhere...telling me about the Teigu."

Tatsumi noticed Esdese' change in facial expression, and quickly changed his tone and words.

"I was suspicious too...but she really has helped me a whole lot. I didn't think that I would find Falorin, let alone the next day after I find out about it."

"She hasn't gotten close to you has she?" she wore a tired expression, holding him close in an embrace while laying down with him.

"No, nothing like that..." he let out a nervous laugh.

Tatsumi tried to move;motioning himself to get off the bed, but Esdese didn't seem to let him.

"Esdese, can you let me up, please? I'm gonna grab that armor and see what its all about-"

"Really? Right now?"

"Y-yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No~"

"Esdese, please."

"I said no, and that's final. You need your rest, and I need you, so you stay here, or I'll make you stay here."

"What time is it?"

"That doesn't matter."

Tatsumi grunted in annoyance as he subsided in his attempts to resist her.

* * *

The familiar smell of wood filled the air as the traveling group sat at a rather large table. Tatsumi had Falorin in his hands, slightly looking it over. He had talked with Murasame earlier;she was saying something about Akame's sword being directly with her at all times, but it had the unfortunate problem of only being used through her energy. Meaning, Tatsumi would have to find a way to receive a good, quality sword. After that, he would have to transfer Murasame' s aggressive energy into that sword, making it "Murasame" again.

Within the cons, the result would be an increase of Murasame's affection and the more Tatsumi would have to endure it's power for usage at all.

With the essential elements, Tatsumi quickly slid Falorin into his hands and donned it.

Immediately after putting it on, he felt extremely light. Almost as if he were floating in a pool of water.

After the exchange of feeling, Tatsumi started feeling extreme power. It was flowing through his veins like a virus.

He felt like he had enough might to push an entire building.

"Anything...happen?" Kurome was disappointed until the markings on Falorin began to light up. It wasn't anything neon, it was a light, white color. Almost as if it was sitting next to a torch.

The familiar, Kurome, Wave, 'Murasame', and Esdese sat at the table, looking at Tatsumi; mildly surprised.

"How weird..." Murasame muttered to herself.

"I feel like...going somewhere. Very...quickly..."

Tatsumi was in a bit of a daze, not noticing his eyes' slight change in tint. As he glanced at the group at the table, everybody seemed taken back and startled, excluding Esdese and Kurome.

"Your eyes, Tatsumi..." Murasame added.

"What happened?" he asked, calmly.

"They are sort of red."

"Let's get moving, ok? I really feel like we can make a lot of progress today."

"Just how abrupt is this week going to be?" wave asked, reluctantly.

* * *

Tatsumi put his arms on each side of the small booth he was standing at, staring a clerk directly in the face. The towns-people were rummaging constantly behind him, bumping into each other, all wearing different personalities. He heard children laughing, footsteps constantly, and the wind blew fiercely.

This clerk had just tried to swindle him out of gold. Wave was just as irritated, if not more.

Tatsumi was looking for a good sword, or rather, a basic sword that he could forge by himself. His plan was to wield Incursio while using a new Murasame. This would make any opponent in his way foiled if they tried to claim Trakunikiss before him and his group.

"No, I asked you for a sword, with two blades."

"No, you asked for a blade, and I gave you a blade."

"It isn't doubled edged! You are advertising for double edged blades, mainly for soldiers right?"

"Yes sir I am but-"

"Then why the hell aren't you selling double edged blades?!"

The aggressiveness was increasing intensely. The clerk had black hair, donned a dirty, butcher-like apron. Wave could tell that the man was lingering. He had this smug look on his face, as if he was determined to swindle Tatsumi.

"We sell double edged blades, and I gave you one. Now either you pay, or you get out of here."

"This isn't double edged."

Tatsumi cut his hand with the sharp part of the blade, and then swung it over, slicing his forearm with the other side, revealing that it didn't cut him at all.

He had a solution to a whole lot of these problems. Back when they were in the Capital, Tatsumi was occasionally tasked to find certain relics for Esdese, and or/ fetching a certain thing for another group. This was because the decor and groups stationed didn't have enough revenue to generate say, food, or housing for the armies. It always confused him, considering there was basically no need for armies anymore, most of the land was at peace.

Of course there would always be followers that ruin the sense of justice, murderers who murder, rapists who rape, and he did his best to stop it all. Among these events, there would always be somebody who tried to mess with him. They would either try to get money out of him, or screw around with him. It was just his origin, people from the capital looked at people from the country in a different way. It was just the way the circle of pessimism went.

He would strike the fear of Esdese into these individuals, allowing himself to get the privilege of scaring the swindler out of admitting to swindling, even sometimes giving him the item for free. He planned to commit this act, as both him and Wave were growing tired of this.

"Would you rather have Esdese hear about this then? I'm really tired of you trying to screw me over-"

"No, no, no, no, Sir, please! I am sorry, sir, please don't do that!" the clerk in the dirtied apron was now hysterical. It was no surprise as to how scared Esdese made people.

"I will give you one of our best double edged blades, I swear, here! Its just back here!" the man scurried into the back wall behind the booth, letting Tatsumi wait with a tired expression. He snapped himself out of his daze once the clerk present him with a long-sword. The sword was indeed double edged, who would have thought.

It had similar appearance to Incursio, although exceptionally longer, and chrome-like in appearance.

"Now get the hell out of here, and you don't come back!" the clerk yelled as he started to pack up his belongings, probably in constant belief that Esdese was going to proceed to visit him;regardless of Tatsumi's threatening.

"You and Esdese sure have a weird way of getting what you want." Wave said in slight annoyance.

"If it makes snarly, barters like this give up their attempts to swindle me then I'm all okay with it."

"You've been acting a little different since you put that thing on, man. You okay? I mean your eyes are looking pretty wicked. Your eyes are starting to look a bit like Kurome's-"

"I'm fine, Wave. I am just fine. Let's get back to the inn so we can get our stuff and just leave. Being in this place makes me feel sick."

"Where are we to go next? We don't really have a solid base anywhere. Its just from inn, to inn.|

"I have a map, and we are following the map. It is as simple as that."

"Is it really? You've been out of character lately. Is there something else going on?"

"No, wave." Tatsumi snapped into a loud response.

"Alright."

* * *

 **I hope you all are having a great day! - Jambles**


	9. Show me your Composition

**Heavy modifications will be done to this chapter as it goes live. - Jambles**

Tatsumi sat, laying against a tree. The tree was half dead, letting the leaves fall on his shoulder as he didn't care.

His newly acquired sword, falling from his hands, into Murasame's lap as she did what he called "Evil Magic". What she was actually perceiving, was a transfer of energy from her to the sword, making it the Teigu that Akame used, only more efficient.

He watched with half open eyes as he witnessed red essence drip off of her arm and onto the sword. She really was evil, to some extent wasn't she?

"How do you do all that so easily?"

"You don't need to worry about that."

"I think I do! It's not logical how you can just, produce red stuff out of your arm...its sort of disturbing."

"If you don't want this Teigu, then I can just stop-"

"N-no. I'm just thinking aloud."

"Can you think of something else that isn't negative? You're coming off as a stubborn, worry wart."

"Really? You're coming off as an evil embodiment of evil that helps me for no reason. I'm still suspicious of you."

She let the sword fall onto the ground, the sunlight touching it's now transforming blade. She sighed heavily and turned herself towards Tatsumi moreover. He was staring into the distance, allowing her to get a full side-view of him.

"You should really stop the suspicious crap, Tautsy~. I am not your enemy, and I have no intention of leading you into a trap, or doing anything bad. I've already told you that I love you, what else do you want me to say or do?"

"I'm sorry, but with everything that's happened, I don't like to trust much of anybody."

"When was there ever a time that somebody betrayed you?"

"There...well...you can't...y-you can't trust people from the Capital right?"

"You're so cute when you try to lie!" she let out a menacing giggle.

Tatsumi felt irritated.

"I can see why Esdese likes you so much..."

Tatsumi let out a heavy sigh, letting himself sink further with gravity. His head was now lying on the grass, lightly wet from the morning dewdrop. He let his eyes close as he listened to the wind. He didn't realize that his sword had fully changed. It looked more or less the same, but had the elements of Akame's sword fused into it.

The sword more or less looked gilded. When he looked over to his right, he smiled in delight, still laying down on the grass. _'This thing probably needs a scabbard, it looks sharp.'_ he thought. _'That, and I remember Akame's Teigu poisoning anything that had the fortune of getting cut by it'._

He was snapped out of thought, feeling the thunk as Murasame sat on his lower torso, and started teasing him.

"You seem to be the submissive, wussy type in the relationship, huh?" she said as she tried to touch his hair, resulting in him lightly;lazily pushing her hand away.

"Not really showing anything back, letting her handle you the way she does, and letting her walk all over you, do you really want that?"

Tatsumi seemed irritated, but he was at her disposal;she had led him to two Teigu, and she also gave him Akame's Teigu, more or less. He didn't want to admit it, but she was kind of amazing. It was so abrupt, her way of helping. She planted the book there, and she wanted him to come along like this.

"I can't believe you put up with that. Or maybe you like being the pawn in the relationship?" she let out another one of those laughs.

"Can you stop..." Tatsumi seemed tired as he spoke, staring at the sword, not caring about Murasame sitting atop of him, staring down at his face, partly making out his green eyes and scar.

"How did you become so cute?" yet another laugh came from Murasame.

"Its not my fault." Tatsumi said with the same tired tone as before.

"Maybe not." she said with a seductive tone.

Tatsumi looked up at Murasame, and struggled to move his body upwards;Murasame's body disabling him to do so. She leaned herself down to his face, letting her hair touch his forehead, making him embarrassed.

"You aren't in love with her. I know you aren't. You're a hero at heart, Tatsumi. Why do you think you're here right now?"

"I need my family back. That's why-"

"Yes, and that's why I'm so in love with you...you are so good at heart. I know you'll save us all."

"Save you all? What do you mean by-"

Tatsumi was cut off by the feeling of her lips on his;heavily embarrassing him. AS the two looked each other deep in the eyes, Tatsumi started feeling very light headed, and as the time of their kissing went on, he felt transparent in a way. He saw nothing but Murasame's face, but it was getting distorted. More and more white light was enveloping his vision, until it all turned white.

Murasame separated her lips from his, staring at Tatsumi's eyes. His eyes had no dilation. His eyes have turned completely white. Quickly getting off of him, he started to vanish. Her plan was working out perfectly.

She definitely didn't want him finding out her secret.

* * *

Tatsumi leaned up, feeling water touch his body, making Falorin and himself wet, along with his hair. As he stood up, he examined his surroundings. It was a blank, never-ending space of foot deep water, but he could make out a tree atop a small hill. It seemed oddly rhetorical. He looked down at his feet to reveal that his shoes were indeed, engulfed by water, but he didn't feel any of it.

As he walked, he wasn't slowed down either.

He wore an amazed expression. 'Is this Carlian acting up again?' he thought;as he pulled the small flute from the makeshift pocket;designed to carry gold.

As he moved the flute around in his hands, he felt his hands move around the holes, and the chrome like substance. It felt nice;almost abnormally lightweight. The thoughts beckoned, as he rubbed the back of his head with his free hand;of course its abnormal, its a Teigu.

"Its a nice flute, isn't it?"

Tatsumi shifted his entire body frontwards, scared in the instant voice he heard behind him. Turning around in the blink of an eye, he saw a man. This man, however, didn't seem to be wearing anything of the current time. He had robes on, very much like Falorin, but more greyish. Almost dead-like.

"So you're the one who holds my flute now. How interesting."

"H-how do you know that?!" Tatsumi wore an angry expression. Readying himself to strike at any moment. This man looked like Run.

"Now don't think me rude, but I've been following you;and for quite some time now."

Tatsumi was about to begin to speak, but was cut off to him walking further towards him and having a "happy-go-lucky" type tone in his voice.

"For I know of a way to master that pesky Carlian you have there."

"Who are you?"

"Why I'm the Composer? Have you not heard of me my friend?"

"I have not. Why did you teleport me to a room full of water and a tree?"

"Ah. That...I don't like talking about this room...it makes me sad, but for you, I will tell you lots!"

"Really now." Tatsumi had had enough. It had been days since he's known fully about his journey.

"You're quite the clueless hero, aren't you? Let me explain my boy:

That flute you have there, was once my flute. I played tunes that could rival the best of music in shearing Rivalry, but unfortunately, I had the experience of death...I had to pass it down to someone else, and I was at a loss, but alas, now I've found you!

Carlian can manipulate time, by doing this, you play a certain tune, and the pathway of truth will show itself to you!

This flute was passed down from evil hands, my boy. This flute was once enveloped by The Emperor's Mask."

"The Emperor's Mask? Tell me more about that." Tatsumi was intrigued, wanting the strange man to continue even more. His mind has been so empty of explanations;he wanted a solution along with anything that could help him resurrect his friends faster.

"Let me tell you everything:

Long ago, the Capital was ruled by an Emperor, but you already know that bit. The Emperor was the most anxious of men, he'd constantly be blowing the nations money on prepping, beefing up armies, etc.

As a result, lots of the people left the Capital, resulting in the creation of the Teigu. Not very many people new that Emperor, but there was a legend. This legend was passed around, from town to town, directly after the Emperor's Royal Guard found suicide notes, and scribblings of his doings;talking about a mask he wore. He stated in his notes that it constantly talked to him, told him of 'payback', or insubordination of himself. A most sought after note however, is the ramblings of broken language he wrote down, talking about death, and how the afterlife is something to be chased after. The most noteworthy words however, were jotted down on a final, tattered piece of paper: "They will know the beauty in their suffering"

The legend itself: There was once a danger beast so powerful, that it could literally level entire lands with it's power. It could create tidal waves, just in and of itself being present. Nobody knows how it was killed, and I'm afraid we will never know, but one thing is for sure, the beast's powers were sealed inside that Mask.

The Emperor, learning of the Mask, quickly made weigh into the search for it. Once he found it, he immediately put it on, expecting the gain the ability to take over the entire world, but to his misfortune, the mask, literally, took control of him.

The powers of the mask were said to be so great, that it was literally sealed away into the bottom of the deepest part of the ocean available.

"Did...Did the mask have blackish, sort of trailed down eyes?"

"Yes...that is what the legend foretells."

"I see now...hey, uh...'Composer"?"

"What?"

"I've had visions...visions of a kid, wearing that same mask, running around a tree, and some kid sitting atop a bell tower while wearing it...does that mean anything to you?"

"It has already begun."

"What has already begun?"

"Your destiny of course."

"What are you going on about-"

"Why for you, by no means should this be a difficult task. You can do it, surely you can!"

"I can do what?"

The man stood there, staring down Tatsumi.

"I can do...what?!" Tatsumi added.

"I've left something for you in your lap, please, look into it."

"W-What?!...Hang on a second, don't just-"

Just like that. Through a non-existent snap of fingers, Tatsumi was back, still wet from the place he was in, laying against the tree that him and Murasame were at. Immediately remembering what The Composer had told him, he gazed hopefully at his lap to see three notes. Each note had writing on it:

 _You're looking for Trakunikiss, correct? Within a container I've placed next to you, you will find a "Trakunikiss Wing", okay? I have written notes for you because I can only talk to you for so long before I have to let the void we were in, "settle", sort of._

' _We were in a_ _void_ _...my life just keeps getting weirder and weirder, doesn't it?_ **'** Tatsumi thought aloud.

The note continued:

 _These next words should make you happy. The_ _Trakunikiss Wing_ _I gave you can and_ _will_ _bring your friend back to life. However, you need to know that they will remember the last thing that happened to them, and that they will have a massive headache after the resurrection. It would probably be a couple days before they'd be able to fully become one hundred percent._

 _Trakunikiss isn't a single Teigu, rather, it is a mass of fallen wings from a very prehistoric danger beast. I can tell you more about that later if you want, but for now, you seemed eager to bring back your friend._

 _There are tons of these wings, and they are scattered throughout the land. You would have to find them on your own, as the map that Murasame created was only the pathway to one, but its a start._

 _I also left you a few scribbles of notes for Carlian. I'd highly recommend you learn those songs and use them to your advantage. I'm horrible at drawing formula's, so, don't judge me, boy._ _I'm dead_ _, you aren't. You have an advantage over me._

 _I wish you luck on your journey! We_ _will_ _talk again..._

Tatsumi quickly gazed over to his left and right, revealing on his left a old-looking box. He grabbed the box, wrinkling Falorin as he leaned over. Swiftly taking the top off the black, prehistoric box, there was a small, yellow wishbone looking object. Upon further inspection, he found that it resembled a wing.

As he lifted it out of the box, it began to glow, causing a surprised expression to shift across his face.

He hasn't been this happy in a week.

He finally had some ground to walk on, some leverage he could use. Tomorrow, he would reveal the news to his group, and turn the tide towards the last place Akame was located.

Now that there is known wings like this throughout the land, the same question from days ago still lingered in his mind.

Who else is looking for these, and rather, why are they so easy to find now?

* * *

 **You guys will never have to wait that long for another chapter again. - Jambles**


	10. Show me your Running Ridicule

"So you mean to tell me that you literally got thrown into a room full of water, and some old man talked to you about that little flute of yours, and told you that you can find literal wings that resurrect others?"

"I know it sounds stupid, Esdese...but seriously that's what's happened? I didn't even expect to find these Teigu this fast. It has to be a sign, don't you get it?"

"It doesn't sound stupid, it sounds idiotic! Have you been drinking, my love?"

"No. It is one hundred percent, the bare truth. Do you remember Akame's Teigu? I have it. I also have Incursio, and I still have to learn, but I can use this flute if I learn how."

"You're using multiple Teigu at once?"

"Yes, I've had this thing on for days, and nothing bad has happened. I kept a mental note stating that if it Did do something, I would take it off or throw one of the Teigu away immediately."

"Tatsumi...what do you think is going to happen once you bring back all of your little posse? Do you think its going to be all fine and dandy?"

"I know it's going to be. I'll make it that way."

"You have to realize that Night Raid looks at me as an enemy, and rightfully so. I don't even want you on this adventure, let alone bringing back all the people that we swore hardheartedly to kill for the crimes they did?"

Esdese put her hand on Tatsumi's chest and gripped Falorin, revealing that it had a much different material then any normal coat. It was thicker in a way.

"Do you remember the week after we found each other after that day? You consistently tried to avoid me, day after day, and every time you tried, you didn't succeed. I learned to trust you just as you learned to trust me, right, my love?"

"Esdese, I want you and I to be together on this, because I really do love you."

"You want me to help you bring back my enemies-"

"We aren't enemies anymore!"

Tatsumi jerked frontwards, quickly standing up, causing Esdese' hand to grip harder but letting go, as he walked farther away from her. She laid herself down on the bed, letting her head fall down on the white pillow. Her eyes followed Tatsumi;he was now crossing his arms, disappointed in a somewhat aggressive manner. Thoughts flowed through her head, awakening her more forceful side.

"Tatsumi, come lay down with me."

A few seconds of silence followed after her words hit him, making her even more irritated.

"Now."

Tatsumi shriveled in annoyance as he started talking.

"Esdese there is something bigger going on here. He told me about some kind of danger beast that has come back from ancient times, something about a mask and how powerful the danger beast was;stating that it could level entire lands..."

"Come lay down Tatsumi."

His annoyance expanded as he turned around to walk around to the other side of the bed. Esdese was wearing clothing that nearly let nothing vented from the imagination. That night gown was worn on purpose and she knew it too. As he slid into the bed almost unwillingly, he stared at her back and hair before laying down directly on his pack;his head resting on the pillow next to hers. She quickly turned to the other side, hugging him;wrapping her arms around him, and letting her head become placed on his shoulder purposefully tightly;her lips nearly touching his ear.

Nearly every night for the past five months, she would always do this. It would always lead to her forcing something on to him, and that was usually intercourse. The first day they found each other after that battle was one of Esdese' most charitable moments. Within the month following up, she had almost changed him completely. Tatsumi didn't care about what she did anymore. Through those months, she had twisted him;made him into the submissive country boy she wanted.

She had done this to him so much, she had related to him via childhood, she did so many things that...in a way he couldn't even describe;she made him attached to her.

"Tatsumi, you don't need to worry about that beast because as long as you're with me, we can accomplish anything, my love. All you need to do is stay by my side, how many times have I told you this now?" she let out a menacing giggle and started to lick Tatsumi's ear, causing him to flinch to some extent.

"You should stay by My side. Esdese, we aren't enemies anymore, and neither is Night Raid, why can't you realize that? You're the Empress now;you call the shots. You no longer have to answer to some inexperienced Emperor."

She gripped him tighter, moving one of her free hands among his torso.

"What are you getting at Tatsumi? I'm already letting you drag me along into this. I could have already-"

"I know...but can you at least consider my request?"

Esdese moved her arm that wasn't under his shirt and moved his head towards her;making them face each other closely.

"What is that, my love?"

"Can you promise me...that when I resurrect everybody, can we stay by each others side despite what happens?"

Esdese couldn't stop the redness that came across her face. She gripped him tighter and moved both of her hands onto his shoulders;now laying on top of him. She pressed her forehead against his as they both could feel their individual breath on one-another.

"I promise you, my love."

* * *

Tatsumi stood dormant, gazing around him;the field of stone, beta-made housing, and familiar debris littered the area. A feeling of dread washed over him as he pictured Akame's face, and moments that they've had together. Slightly closing his eyes, he reached into his right pocket, allowing the sunlight to warm up his arm as he pulled the small box that contained the abrupt "Trakunikiss Wing" that he received.

It had been a few days since he backtracked back to Akame's final resting spot. Kurome and Wave didn't feel like coming back to this place;all the treachery caused them to have a specific hatred for the inhabited group of elements. Along with him, was of course, Esdese. She was sticking rather close to him, feeling even more for him after what he said that night. Almost every single time she thought of it, she just wanted to hug him endlessly;something about those words he said made her feel affectionate.

Tatsumi didn't exactly know how to use the wing, but he had spent the last few minutes placing it around the area, trying to pin-point the exact location where Akame was killed. The small box made a clicking noise that was all too familiar. Constantly trying to find the spot while being careful with it;caused the tedious manner of the situation to dwell on his mental state.

Esdese walked behind him and promptly hugged him, sniffing his hair;feeling Incursio touch her chest, and the scabbard on his left leg lightly braze her leg. The newly formed "Murasame" had a long, makeshift scabbard, colored a dark shade of red.

Tatsumi felt comfortable and leaned himself back into her, letting the back of his head fall lightly on her shoulder. She had her normal outfit donned, but she chose to leave her cap off, letting her hair glimmer even more then it did.

"This is the last possible spot..." he said with an annoyed tone, letting out a sigh.

"Can't we just take the day to ourselves and cuddle, my love...we've been here for quite some time. I've even made up a few new nicknames for you~" she talked seductively into his hair.

"I wouldn't mind that, but let's get this done first..." he responded, shaking himself;motioning that Esdese should let go of him so he could place the wing down. However, she didn't.

"I'm holding you to that.~" she had the same seductive tone.

As she let her arms around him fall, he knelt down, and opened the box for what seemed like the hundredth time. Letting the small, glimmering stone fall into his palm once again, he lightly placed it down on the stone earth below his feet. After looking at it for a few seconds, he had mental disappointment in high numbers.

He let out a large sigh, as he turned around, looking at Esdese;wearing a sad expression.

As they were about to start talking, the stone started to emit a larger glow of light, emitting and engulfing them both;making them both rave in consistent manner to the large yellow-like light. Tatsumi had a calm expression;simply expecting Akame to become visible at some point.

These abnormalities have become normal for him;at this point, he was expecting anything. Esdese was simply, in a state of mild expressiveness. As the light stopped emitting, a flash of blinding white engulfed the area, expressing a strong gust of wind in the progress;making their gear shimmer in regard.

Tatsumi was knocked down to a sitting position, causing his left sword to scrape the stone as it adjusted to his position. Esdese was left putting an arm up to shield her eyes.

* * *

 **You have my word that there will be less sadistic cliffhangers. (I'm not the shadow of Robert Kirkman yet. ;)]**

 **So here's a question you can also answer when you R &R(If you do, I do not push for you beautiful people to review, only if you wish to. ;) **

_**What is your favorite romance Anime/Manga?**_

 **(I will add a question like this every chapter from now on. I love you guys!)**

 **\- Jambles**


	11. Show me your Poisonous Swordsmen!

As the light died down, Tatsumi looked above him, using whatever was present of his vision after the blinding light. As his vision came back to him, he made out wings in the sky. He couldn't make out any logical reason why the wings were staying there. There was no creature that they were latched to, they were just, transparently there, towering over the both of them. The wings were golden, having small lines of light express themselves through the gaps of transparency;raving over the two even more gargantuan then before.

Tatsumi stared at the wings as intently as he could before the enveloping light died down, allowing himself to stand up;having the wary attitude expressive as he did so. After his full vision returned, he gazed around the area, but got locked into one position.

He saw Akame, lying on the ground, motionless. She was wearing nothing but what she always did. The same black outfit, the skirt and tie. She didn't seem to be awake.

Tatsumi ran over to her, ignoring the wings that hovered above. Esdese simply watched from afar. He knelt down, putting his hand on her shoulder, his scabbard equipped on the left leg, scraping the stone earth once again. The sound of the scraping made birds fly out of a nearby tree;as he gently shook Akame. He couldn't believe that she was there, let alone looking healthy.

After a few seconds of shaking her, she opened her eyes slowly. As Tatsumi took his arm back and watched her, he started to talk.

"Akame, can you hear me?"

"Who is that?"

"Its Tatsumi. You're alive, Akame...I can't believe it! It actually worked!" he gleamed in happiness as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, helping her sit up.

"Tatsumi..." she muttered before her head fell onto his shoulder;only to quickly jerk back up as she fully awoke.

"W-Where are we? What happened?"

"We're at the Capital, you don't need to worry you're safe."

"Are we dead?"

"No, I brought you back from the dead."

As she tried to stand up, her right leg quickly succumbed to pressure;making her fall back down into a sitting position, directly in front of Tatsumi. He was trying to support her with opening his arms in case she fell in any other direction. Akame, now fully awake, scanned the area around her with her red eyes. She quickly noticed Esdese behind Tatsumi, and gritted her teeth before she spoke again.

"Why isn't she dead?"

"Akame, don't worry about-"

"Why isn't she dead, Tatsumi?!"

She pushed herself into Tatsumi's chest, hugging him. With her arms wrapped around his shoulders, she let her head rest on his left shoulder;staring at Esdese with dead, evil eyes. Her right arm fell from Tatsumi's back to the hilt of his sword as she pulled it out of the scabbard and threw it in Esdese' direction in the blink of an eye. Esdese, of course;blocked the sword and let it fall to the ground near the right of her.

Akame was now, finally in a standing position;allowing Tatsumi to get up himself;walking over to pick up the sword that she threw. As he picked it up, he could feel the tension between the two. Akame wanted her dead, and she wanted her dead now. The wings were no longer in the air, seeming to have dilapidated after the tension brewed.

The sunlight pierced the groups clothes, warming them up. Tatsumi walked into the pool of tension, and started to speak.

"Akame, she isn't the enemy...not anymore." he reached his right arm outwards;positioning his hand to signify her to stop, and directly afterward, put it down.

She tried to reach for her Teigu, only to realize it wasn't there. Had they disarmed her?

Tatsumi took a few steps back;causing the clink sound of his sword to trigger when it slid back into the red scabbard. He let himself fall backwards once he felt himself touch Esdese;letting his head touch her right shoulder as he did before;whispering in sheer cold.

"I think you should start to head back to Kurome and Wave, I'll catch up and tell her everything."

They were both whispering at this point.

"Tatsumi, I'm not leaving you with another women like this, its a stupid-"

"Don't worry about stupid things like that. I love you, and It would be better for all of us if you just listened to me, just this one time."

She sighed in annoyance as she lightly shoved him forwards. Shooting him an annoyed glance, she began walking into the opposite direction;kicking up dirt as she did. She didn't really enjoy the role reversal, but she would make him pay for it later.

* * *

Tatsumi and Akame stared each other down. Tatsumi, wearing a happy expression, while Akame, wore a disappointed and confused expression. The tension had resolved after Esdese was out of sight. Akame couldn't stand looking at her any longer;the last thing she wanted to see after waking up from that moment of death was an enemy. Her hand moved as she gripped her skirt in anger, wrinkling it as the sunlight hitting it distorted;making many shadows on the black outfit. She started walking towards him, ending up on his right side, staring at his outfit and weapons, and the duo began to walk down the stone path, riddled with the scent of wood;more then likely caused by the gargantuan amount of re-construction.

She blinked her eyes as she scanned him with her very red eyes. She was thinking.

"I'm...I'm so confused..."  
Tatsumi looked over at her, more happy then ever before. He was just glad she was here with him.

"What's the last thing you remember?"

She put one hand on the back of her head, letting it roll over the straight, black hair that warmed her hand up as she did.

"I was fighting a few foot-soldiers directly after Leone and I split up...and then I heard screaming, so much screaming. Directly after that I started heading for where Leone went, and then, I saw a big flash of light. I felt pain almost instantly like somebody had hit me with their fist, and then I saw nothing but light once again...After that I saw you, and that, bitch."

Tatsumi looked at her with a sad expression on his face.' _Leone will come back to us as soon as possible, I_ _promise_ _that._ ' he thought.

"Let me start from the beginning:

-When I woke up, I had just traded deaths with that big trump card, Shikoutazer, I think it was called. I was injured, and Incursio had been broken. I thought I was in some kind of afterlife, or something similar. I quickly realized that I was still outside of the battlefield that had just been destroyed. The Emperor was nowhere to be seen, neither was Leone, Najenda, or Wave. I walked and walked, until I found Esdese, who looked nearly dead, but she was just as active as you could expect. I started vocally;almost immediately;lashing out at her, asking her why she wasn't dead, and that she didn't deserve to be here;overall wondering why I was even alive. After that, I...I just didn't care. She became the new Empress, and overall, she wasn't that horrible. There weren't very many instances of corruption, but when I saw it, I had her and myself stop it. We won the battle there, and that's the truth. Nobody else has to die. It's been months since that happened and eventually, I was starting to think that this is the path that god chose for me, but then I came across a book. A book that your sword, Murasame, planted.

Akame's eyes widened as she wore a mildly confused expression.

"That reminds me, where is my Teigu?"

"Your Teigu is a girl named Murasame, and she is literally, human;well, sort of..."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I was in one of the popular libraries in the capital nearly a month ago, and I found a book. The book had entries of Teigu, but one caught my eye because it stated that the Teigu 'Trakunikiss" could bring other back from the dead...and I know, I was skeptical at first. What I didn't expect, was an embodiment of you, literally showing up with dead eyes and talking to me, telling me that she was Murasame."

"Could it be that the demon-"

"The trump card that you spoke of, it wasn't a demon exactly. Murasame is a girl who got caught and had her spirit trapped in the Teigu for an old Emperor. The poison side of it, or the taking over part, I'm not so sure about that...but she literally isn't a vicious man slaying demon, I don't think. Of course, she did say she had a Teigu of her own...so it could go both ways."

Akame stared at the ground in deep thought as she watched her feet slightly kick the now dirt road as she walked;Tatsumi's robe-like attire brushing her leg at intervals.

"Let me get this straight. You talked to my sword, managed to get a Teigu that brought me back to life, and now Esdese and you are what, saving us all?"  
Tatsumi let out a small chuckle as he started to respond.

"Not exactly. Wave and Kurome are with us too. They aren't enemies anymore. Nobody is. The only enemies that we will make will be the ones standing in our way to get back our family."

He wore a determined expression and a broad smile.

"Where is Murasame now?" Akame asked.

Tatsumi shuffled his left arm and leaned his head back a bit;trying to remember where exactly she went.

"I actually have no idea, probably with Wave and Kurome."

Akame was surprised that he could say it so easily. The sheer thought of an embodiment of that sword scared her to some extent, and the way that Tatsumi described her, she didn't know if this evil women had helped him, or used him. In a twisted way, she was happy that she was with Tatsumi here, in the moment. He had somehow brought her back to life, and while she is very confused, she can't help but feel happy. She was with her best friend, and apparently he had the key to bringing loved ones back.

"What about the sword?"

Tatsumi reached his arm down onto his left leg, placing his hand on the hilt of the newly acquired sword;pulling it out as it made a small scraping sound. As he pulled it out, the sunlight gleamed off of it, revealing a red and purple tint, very similar to Akame's now vacant sword. He carefully brought it in front of her as they were walking;allowing her to take it hesitantly. It looked heavy, but she was surprised when it was as light as what she was used to. The sword itself was longer, and looked like it was the weapon of some fictional palace leader.

"So, how exactly did you get this, if Murasame is...human?"

"Murasame transferred some of her...energy...onto it, and she made it what it is. I know all of this sounds like complete bogus and fairy tales...trust me, I'm still wearing your face at the moment. These past few weeks have been so abrupt-"

Tatsumi halted in his sentence as they both stopped in the pathway before them. A group of men stood in their way, all wearing armor. The sunlight shined on the armor as two men on each side of the middle man took a fighting stance. Akame panned at the design, gripping the poisonous Teigu in her hand once again. This armor resembled the same logo of a clan they wish they didn't have to remember.

The Path Of Peace;except, their logo seemed, crooked;like a fan group tried to replicate it.

"Who are you, and what do you want from us?" Tatsumi yelled as he took the sword from Akame, getting in front of her. Akame didn't seem to like this at all.

"We are The Blockade! We are a shadow of what The Path Of Peace once was! -And...we have come for the wing you so chose to find without us. You either give it over, or you suffer death."

Tatsumi felt adrenaline rushing through him. His hands started shaking as he gripped the sword in his hand;preparing for one of them to attack. After a few moments of silence and wary tension, the soldier in the middle made a simple statement.

"Attack!"

The soldiers in their Grey armor charged forward toward Tatsumi; attempting to stab him with a weirdly designed and oversized spear.

Tatsumi dashed left as the spear misses him completely. Akame dived to the left as well, managing to trip one of the running soldiers as they charged forward.

Tatsumi quickly regained his composure and decided to test out a new trick her learned on his way here.

He let the poisonous sword shift in his hand, and directly when the hilt reached its opposite position, he threw it at the soldiers that Akame was avoiding. If it had worked out like he practiced, the effect that Murasame gave it should work; and it did.

The sword was thrown horizontally at the soldiers, causing a red glow to emit under the blade, cutting through the soldiers and their armor;immediately killing them. Blood was visible, clotting in the sunlight as it ran down their armor.

There were three other members, donning the same armor with the same broken logo, staring intently at Tatsumi.

Akame quickly ran to Tatsumi's side, mentally cursing him for not letting her use something;she wasn't useless;she was far from useless. She wore a mildly surprised expression when she heard the familiar sound of tree twigs breaking;as if somebody was stepping on them in front of her.

The sword that Tatsumi threw;his sword;had come back to him like a child's boomerang;allowing him to easily catch the hilt in his palm.

"Nobody else has to die. Just surrender and go your separate way!" Tatsumi yelled intently.

The soldiers didn't listen.

All three of them started to run forward, charging head on;seeming to prepare for him to throw the sword again;screaming almost consistently.

Tatsumi quickly gripped the hilt of Incursio, and equipped it in the left hand, along with Murasame. The two swords gleamed in sunlight as his green eyes quickly faded away;leaving a white void in their presence.

The first soldier that tried to swing the same type of spear at him missed, and fumbled, allowing Tatsumi to quickly punt him out of the way, sending him flying towards a nearby tree. Another tried grabbing him, only to fall victim to Incursio;feeling the blade pierce his armor;blood flowing down the blade as it dripped onto the ground.

Akame stood back, watching in mild amazement. _'He has no expression, he isn't even grunting.'_ her mental words echoed throughout her ears.

As two soldiers lye dead;one on the end of Incursio's blade, and the other impaled by a tree branch, the final soldier fell onto his knees in front of Tatsumi, staring at the ground with a horrified expression. The soldier looked up as he heard the footsteps of his group's murderer slowly approach him.

Tatsumi held both swords in hand, one glowing red, the other glowing gold;staring into the soldier's eyes with a blank expression. His white eyes made the man even more horrified as he started to flail on the ground, backing up from Tatsumi;only causing him to walk further toward him.

"I want you to turn around, and get the hell out of my sight."

The soldier quickly agreed and got up without any hesitation, kicking dirt off the ground in succession. The armor he wore made sounds as he quickly ran down the pathway his group once blocked;stopping after he heard Tatsumi speak;not looking behind him.

"Hey! I want you to think about how you approach somebody like me again, you hear? Death hurts. So don't threaten others with it. You will never know when it's your last day on earth, you got it?"

"Y-Yes!" the man let out a childish response as he ran even faster down the pathway.

Tatsumi's eyes returned to normal as he walked towards Akame, happily giving her back the sword.

"Can you tell me Everything that has happened, please?" Akame smiled as she took the sword and scabbard from him.

"Yeah, but let's go to an Inn first. Its starting to get dark."

"Yeah, I guess it is. You have a lot to tell me-"

"I do."

He equipped Incursio directly onto his back, where it clicked in sufficiently. Sweat was dripping off of his forehead;only intensifying when he began walking with Akame again.

The two walked down the pathway, now ridden of the small group that blocked their way.

' _That can't be okay' -_ Akame kept her thoughts to herself as they continued on.

* * *

 **Follow me on Twitter for live updates;to know just exactly when I start writing, and when I upload it. You can either go to my profile and find the link to it there, or type into Twitter - "YepItsJambles".**

 **I wish for you to read and review, but you don't have to if you do not want to. Here's my end chapter question -** _ **What's your favorite fruit?**_

 **On a side note here, I've noticed a few readers get confused over why I capitalize the first letter of certain words. I thought it was common knowledge. Heres a little tiny lesson from me:**

 **"Jim wasn't going to get mad over something on the Internet."(Notice how I capitalized "Internet")? That means that the character, "Jim" is putting heavy pronunciation on "Internet".**

 **Think of the character having an either heavier or sarcastic tone while saying that single capitalized word.**

 **I love you guys.**

 **\- Jambles**


	12. Show me your Pent Position

**Heavy modifications will be done to this chapter as it goes live. - Jambles**

* * *

The smell of rough wood flew through the air as Tatsumi sat with Akame in a small booth inside of an inn. Tatsumi cringed slightly as his robe-like clothes moved upwards as he did so. He felt a familiar arm grip his as Murasame held him tightly, allowing their bodies to touch abrasively. Tatsumi wore a worn expression, staring intently at Akame;struggling to make out words as Murasame toyed with him purposefully.

"So this is Murasame?" Akame asked.

"Y-Yes..." Tatsumi muttered with a sarcastic tone.

Akame leaned in and stared at Murasame;only to quickly pull herself back and cross her arms. She wore an irritated face and stared intently at Tatsumi, and the arm gripping him as well;which made her even more angry.

"How in the hell is she even walking around? Better yet, why don't you know?! How the hell is my Teigu a person?"

"Relax, Akame." Murasame said.

"I..I'm sorry. I'm just really confused, I'm not normally this lively."

"I know you aren't."

Murasame moved to the left of her couch-like seat;pulling Tatsumi along with her;making him grunt as she held him close to her, sitting in a position that was now directly across from her.

"Can you please explain to me how-"

"I can explain everything, but I only ask that you listen."

"That's all I've been doing since I woke up...one moment I was fighting and now he says that It's been months since I apparently died?"

"He revived you with a special item called "Trakunikiss". That item is no Teigu, it's a wing from a fallen danger beast. Many of you people think of beasts as well...'danger beasts', but some of them have extraordinary traits. Trakunikiss in legend - is an eagle that people used to worship a very long time ago. It's explained as an eagle that had many wings, but there is no solid art representation;at least, I haven't found one.

Besides that, it's wings have the ability to bring others back to life, and thats what Tautsy did for you. As for me, do you remember the vicious trump card you spoke about?"

"...Yes."

"That's me~. Although, I'm not as vicious or evil as you described me to be...I was inside your sword for a very long time, and don't worry...I wasn't conscious inside your sword, but I do remember all of the things you've done with the weapon. For getting things figured out quicker, let me just say that;You will still have your weapon and everything that the Teigu comes with but, I'm my own person. Your Teigu won't have that trump card, and you might even be able to use it to it's full potential rather then having to worry about something taking you over. So, everybody wins."

Akame slid back in her seat as she crossed her arms;her black hair falling down her shoulders as she did so.

"What about all the stuff you have on and what you just did yesterday?" she said, as she gave Tatsumi an intent look.

"Well, the clothes you are talking about is also a Teigu."

"Are you really cracking jokes right now? You can't be using two Teigu at once, your body would surely crumble."

"But you'll believe that your sword is moving around and what she just explained to you?"

Akame grunted and put more force in crossing her arms.

"Okay...I guess your correct."

"These 'clothes' are called 'Falorin'. Its a Teigu that allows me to use multiple Teigu at once. I also have a flute that is apparently a Teigu, as well as Incursio and Murasame-" he choked on his words as he swiftly glanced at Murasame, and then back at Akame. He then stared at the sharp chromium sword;the light from the chandelier gleaming off of it as it leaned on the wall.

"What should we call the sword now that you're here?"

"I've been thinking about that! Call me Mura, and call the sword Same~"

"Okay, Mura...". He continued to explain.

"You get the gist, I used all of these Teigu. I guess you can call it sort of a cheating way, but if it gets you back here, Akame, I don't care what it takes."

Akame wore a sadder expression as she crossed her arms with force. She had remembered the deaths of Sheele, Lubbock, and the disappearance of Leone. Right then and there it snapped;she just remembered about Leone and the others.

She stood up with great force as she moved the table in her body's animation;shoving the confused Tatsumi and Murasame into the back of their seats. The chromium sword now falling onto the wooden floor;making an anvil sound as the object hit solid ground. She placed her hands with force onto the table, catching the attention of Kurome, who awoke swiftly in the back corner of the room.

"Where is Leone?! What happened to Mine and the others?!"

"Akame... they're dead." Tatsumi said, as he wore a disappointed expression;hurting his mental state as he saw her disgusted and sad face.

"Mine couldn't have died in that flash of light, what about Leone? She left, who could have-"

"Akame, they're dead. That whole place was demolished...I've already told you that the last thing I remembered was waking up after-"

Tatsumi was cut off by Akame as she almost instantaneously shoved him into the small, wooden wall arch of the booth;sweat running down the side of her face as small tears started to slowly form in her read eyes. Murasame was simply taken aback, crossing her arms after the event unfolded;staring at Tatsumi, who was helplessly letting his arms fall down from Akame's sides to his.

"And you're here, with Esdese, the one that caused all this bullshit!"

"Akame...calm down."

"No! I will not!" she loudly yelled, gripping the chest portion of Falorin tightly;wrinkling it as she stared into Tatsumi's eyes.

"Everybody is dead, and you bring me back to...to, this?!" she exclaimed, as she was now visibly upset.

"Akame, we can bring back the others!" Tatsumi yelled at her, trying to calm her down as he continued:

"There are more wings like the one that brought you back, thats the whole reason I came on this adventure...Akame I-"

"Stop."

Akame let go of the now wrinkled Falorin as she backed up from him. She clenched her fist as she began to speak again, the force of quick movement blowing the bottom of Falorin left and right.

"Let's talk in private, okay?" Akame said with a stern tone.

"Um. Okay?" he muttered in confusion.

"Hey, you better not be doing anything to Tautsy." Murasame spoke her words, only for them to be ignored;allowing her to witness them both walking away.

"I have my eye on you, Akame." Mursame said, as she joked with herself in thought.

* * *

Akame had taken Tatsumi into another room, pushing him into it forcefully and shutting the door in reaction. He shuffled as the bottom of Falorin hit across his two legs as he stumbled. _'She may have just been brought back from the dead, but she sure had some strength' he thought._

"What's with all these people, Tatsumi? Why couldn't you have just brought me back and just us go after Night Raid together? That would have made more sense. I don't understand why you are with Esdese." Akame explained.

She walked closer to Tatsumi, seeming to enjoy his presence once again;staring intently at him with her red eyes. Those eyes plagued Tatsumi;he could never lie to her, even if he tried, and it wasn't that he wanted to, it was the overall feeling that you couldn't _. 'She just has that gaze that tore through your very soul.'_

" _I felt just the same as you when I woke up Akame. As soon as I hit that giant Teigu with Wave, I thought I was dead. I saw flashes of you and the others, and I thought for damn sure I was dead, but...here I am."_

 _Akame sat down on a familiar looking bed;letting herself fall backwards onto the mattress;her black hair illuminating with the light from the room shining on it, and allowed Tatsumi to continue talking._

"Esdese was there, and I had found her as the only one remaining on the battlefield;other then me. I had tried to immediately look for you, but you know her...she grabbed me and I fell unconscious. The day after that would start the months I spent with her. At first, I was constantly rebellious, asking her the state of you, or if any other Night Raid members survived;to which she replied that nobody did.

After her constant forcing and manners, I just started to not care, Akame. All caring did was make my life horrible. I had no reason to live, so I didn't care what she did with me, but its not about that.

Akame, we have a chance, a chance to bring our friends, no our Family back! There are more Trakunikiss wings, and with how they resurrected you, think of what we can do! When we find our others, we can bring back Leone, Lubbock, Mine, Najenda-"

"Stop it. Just stop it. There's obviously a reasonable explanation to how I came back and thats just it." she responded with a stern tone, leaning up as her hair flung back when she did so.

This made Tatsumi a bit irritated.

"No, you were resurrected by this wing. I did it, I saw it with my own eyes. It's been months since you've died, and you don't have anything to say to change your mind either way."

Akame's eyes began to grow heavy as she became irritated at what he was saying;intently looking at him with a sense of hate.

"You can't accept it can you? You can't accept the very fact that a happy ending exists. I can't believe you Akame. I really, really can't. Why can't you be happy? Happy that you're alive, happy that you're with me and we have solid ground that we can cover? Nobody has to die anymore...nobody. There can be an end to this rocky-"

Tatsumi was cut off by the feeling and impact of Akame's fist punching him directly into the side of his head. He hadn't felt pain like this since Esdese' first months of imprisonment. This made him fall backwards, allowing the bottom part of Falorin to fall over his knees as he slid backwards on the wooden floor. Grunting;he reached his right arm and hand to cover the mark that she had left when she inflicted her damage upon him. He wore an irritated face as he stared into Akame's eyes, which looked to be full of nothing but a medium state.

"What the hell was that for? Akame, I can't believe you. We finally have a pathway to getting out of this bullshit and you-"

He cut off his words once he quickly realized that she was about to try tackling him. He dodged right, making the wooden floor squeak as the bottom of Falorin flew to the left in it's reaction. This caused Akame to stumble;only to immediately tackle him in success,planting him firmly on the ground;wearing a mean look in her eyes.

"Stop talking about it! If there is a way...show me. Just show me."

"I-I will Akame, we'll bring our family back, we just need to-"

"I just want to see them again Tatsumi, I really want to see them again. Everybody looked at me with hope and relying feeling, I never got to tell them how I really felt, I've only ever told it to you, and I...I regret it...I just want-" Akame talked loudly, but stopped when she saw that she was squeezing Tatsumi's shoulders abnormally hard;with the feeling of her also pinning him down by sitting on him, with her legs falling to his sides.

"I...I'm sorry." she said, as she let's go of him.

"One way or another, we'll have a happy end, I promise you."

"You don't keep promises well."

"I promised you I wouldn't die right?" He said with a fulfilled grin as the joke fit in perfectly.

He moved his body only to realize that Akame was still sitting on him.

"Can you get off me?" he asked with sheer politeness, grinning as he did so.

"I'm sorry, I've kind of been out of character." Akame said, while getting up off of him.

"No, no, I reacted more or less the same way-"

Tatsumi was once again interrupted by the sight of the same scenario: An ice-cycle like spear flying through the room only to hit the fancy wooden wall on the opposite side of the room.

* * *

 **The next chapter will be uploaded in the normal update time, there has been a death in the family, but I won't let depressive thoughts ruin anything...I will post the next chapter soon. It will be longer, so expect that ;)**

 **I have a question for you if you happen to leave a review. Do you guys want a chapter entailing the happenings between Tatsumi and Esdese after he was resurrected to be added in with the next chapter tomorrow? If so, let me know in the reviews. I will write and upload them both.**

 **Don't expect a long wait. ;) - Jambles**

* * *

 **You can find a link to my Twitter if you want to be notified exactly when I upload and experience live updates! _Another side note;I noticed not a lot of you were reviewing. If you could;take the time to answer the question - as it helps me greatly!) - Jambles_**


	13. Show me your Unlikely Upbringing

Tatsumi leaned abrasively over the barrier that separated him from the view atop the balcony;thinking of the past few days;debating on whether or not to analyze the book that Mura gave him, or to just interrogate her. Thinking of attempting this however, always resulted in another conclusion;considering she always seemed to ignore what he wanted to hear the answer for;promptly going on about something else.

He hesitated a bit before walking back into the room;spotting Esdese sleeping on the bed;very soundly. Her long hair fell down over her face, and shortly drooped over the left side of the bed;as Tatsumi walked in;sitting down at a nearby table. He had set the familiar book on the table, and shifted through it;looking for something to calm his nerves. He had been a little uncomfortable after Akame did what she did earlier during the day. She had been acting like she wasn't herself, but then again, he had acted the same way when all of the abrupt events happened.

After finding nearly nothing besides the old explanations that took him to these Teigu;he leaned back in the chair and sighed heavily;rubbing his hands through his hair;as he heard the small noise of Falorin hitting the front pegs of the chair. He had been exhausted from today's events;which concluded the resurrection of Akame. He still couldn't believe it. He had this feeling inside of him;he was more happy then he has ever been before. He wanted to call this the best day of his life, but he made sure that the moment would invade himself once he saw his family alive and well;not fighting to the death anymore.

He launched a mental inquiry;searching his pockets for Carlian;staring down at the small pages below the bottom of the Teigu book. He wanted to try at least one of these little mementos that the Composer gave him;as he figured he wouldn't have many other times to do so. Everybody was asleep, and oddly enough, Esdese didn't seem to hold him like a beast holding it's prey tonight.

As he pulled the metal instrument out of this sleek pocket, he reached his right hand over to pick up one of the makeshift notes that the strange man made for him;revealing a template sheet. This sheet contained the notes written down in a strange way;revealing three songs that can be used with Carlian.

Skepticism flowed through his head as he hesitantly put the instrument close to his mouth;attempting to follow the diagram that was presented to him.

The only thing he accomplished was making harsh noise until finally realizing he hit the first note correctly;following it up with more failed, loud attempts. He was sure this would wake up Esdese, but he didn't care. At this point, there was no point in being scared of her. He knew how to handle her, and she knew how to control him. That's just the way it went.

As he hit a sharp note;Esdese started shuffling herself in the bed;under the blankets. She was awake now;but just enough to start opening her eyes;trying to grab Tatsumi but only managed to grab the blankets as she began to get irritated.

"Tatsumi...what are you doing?" she managed to mutter;getting a faint vision of him.

"I'm trying to learn how to use this flute."

"Come lay down. Forget about that stupid flute for tonight. You have all the time to do that and yet you do so now?"

"Well, yeah." he responded;not thinking it was a big deal.

"Tatsumi, you either come lay down with me, or I freeze you here."

"Really, Esdese. You don't scare me anymore."

"Oh really?" she stated;as she got up from her bed, stretching as she now stood above it;staring at the back of Tatsumi's head.

"Esdese...I've been thinking. You agreed with me whenever you said that you'd stick by me wherever correct?"

"Of course I did."

"That's not like you."

"Tatsumi...this again." she wore an exhausted expression;having gone over this with him already.

"No, don't. You haven't been acting yourself lately, and neither has Akame."

"Don't compare me to that poisonous snake."

"I'm not... but can you tell me something?"

"What is that?" she responded with a tired look in her eyes;as she lightly walked toward him;stopping when she arrived behind him.

"I think something happened, after that fight. After the Emperor had been killed." he hesitantly explained.

Esdese walked directly in front of the small lamp's emitting light;towering over the front of Tatsumi;staring directly into his eyes. This surprised him a good amount;as he didn't expect her to be moving so quickly after waking up so abruptly. The light that shined behind made her figure seem all the more omniscient and intimidating.

"What has you so worried? You haven't even come to bed yet."

"I think someone, or Something, put us together for a reason."

"Of course that happened, my love. It was fate telling us that we Are meant to be together. Only, I still hate that it took so long for you to realize, but fighting is fun too~"

"It's not that, its...I just have this feeling inside me that just...I don't find myself hating anything anymore. I forgave nearly everybody. I don't...I-"

"Have you been drinking at the-"

"No, Esdese of course not."

"Just come lay down." she said as she considered to force him over to the bed, but decided against it when she saw the look his his eyes. The same look she saw when she first saw him during that contest.

"There's something bigger going on, and I think there was a reason I survived that fight." he said;mildly in thought.

"Tatsumi, you're just tired. You need to stop thinking about this so much. The only thing you need to think about is me~" she stated in a deliberative manner as she stretched her body;obviously trying to excite him.

"That's one of the weakest thing's you've said-"

His voice quickly faded away as he felt Esdese' hand on his chest and her lips on his;letting his guard down in reaction. Her nightwear's gown like bottom made a skidding sound as the fabric touched Falorin. She dis-engaged their lips as she grabbed the left portion of Falorin, attempting to take it off, but failed as she realized it had pulled himself along with it.

"Esdese, don't you have more pressing matters as an Empress then being with me?"

"Nothing is more important then my love for you." she stated as she still held the left side of Falorin wrinkled in her hand. He was about to begin speaking again;but was interrupted as she continued talking.

"Tatsumi, I chose to go with you because I love you. Not only that, but I can find out more about these Teigu, all the while punishing you if you ever disobey me. I'm keeping my eye on you, and you remember that. I'm still the same old Esdese, and you can't change that. I still can't promise no conflict won't come with that snake."

The same scenario happened;as Tatsumi was unable to speak once again.

"Furthermore, if you don't come to the bed with me in about five seconds I'm going to freeze you to the bed."

"Okay, okay."

He got up from the chair, the familiar light making both of their shadows emit the area;shrouding the wall in black. As Esdese let go of him, she reached over to turn off the lamp;being successful in doing so. She closely followed behind him;staring at Falorin, looking for a way to take it off.

"How on earth do you even wear that thing?"

"It's like a robe outfit. See?" he explained as he moved his right hand up to his chest, quickly inserting it into the space between him and the robe;taking it off quite easily. It's long sleeves drooped onto the ground as the bottom did as well. The red design on the fabric faded into a deeper red as he tossed in on the chair he had just sat on;revealing a white T-shirt.

"It's really weird. Why were you wearing that thing with no shoes on at all?"

"It's comfy and also, it just, makes me feel at ease. I can't really explain it, and the only explanation I have is that it's an Imperial Arms to some extent-"

He was startled as Esdese shoved him;causing an impacted sound as he hit the bed;shuffling the blankets as it happened. She quickly laid down with him;somehow managing to get on top of him. She let herself fall down;sinking into the space between him and the right side of the bed.

The smell of the sheet filled every space around his face as she started to caress him;making him feel a bit uncomfortable.

"Can we not do that tonight?"

"Tatsumi...it's been days." she said this as she started to lick his neck;all while disabling his attempts for her to stop.

* * *

Tatsumi struggled in his sleep;Esdese' sleepy grasp keeping him from falling onto the floor. He heard voices, and they wouldn't stop. None of them would. He heard a child's voice, and saw an image of that same, demented looking mask.

'This was similar to the visions I saw during Carlian' he thought.

Except this time, he couldn't stop seeing the mask and hearing the voices. The same black void in the eye socket, the same trail of red flowing down the cheeks;this was scaring him to some extent.

The voices he heard were plain as day:

 _I'm glad that you're back, I'm so very glad you are back._

 _I will play a trick on all of you._

 _This demented land will become mine, and there is nothing you can do to stop me._

 _I will tear this world apart._

 _All of you humans wear faces._

 _None of you know what I am, but you will know soon enough._

 _There is beauty in your suffering._

* * *

 **Hey, I apologize for this one being so short. It's been a hard time recently;somebody in the family has died.**

 **This will be the first time I actually ask you to review. If I don't know whether or not you like the quality, I can't exactly know whether or not to elongate the chapters;explain setting more;or have more dialogue. It will help me a lot. - Jambles**


	14. Show me your Imperial Bellicose

**Heavy modification will be done to this chapter as it goes live - as well as an extension of it. - Jambles**

The white void of the rising dawn filled the room as Tatsumi struggled heavily;barely awaking from his mentally drugged state. He lightly moved his arm up, putting a free hand on his head;the left one being engulfed by Esdese' grasp. He had a massive headache,and he was feeling every touch of it. His forehead filled itself with sweat as he struggled to sit up on the bed. He then realized that he was sweating - abnormally sweating.

Immediately after a few seconds of checking over himself, he felt a sharp shooting pain in his head.

Grasping his head with both of his hands, he quickly fell down onto the floor; feeling the cold ground on his back as he quickly struggled to get back up;heading to the bathroom.

Shoving himself through the door;the wind from the door hit his face as it made a large slamming sound;promptly hitting him in the arm as the knob came back to him from the force of the wall.

He leaned to the left, looking for some kind of rag to wipe his forehead with. When he eventually found one on the small white sink, he quickly reached up to wipe the sweat off of his forehead. The rag felt rough as it brushed across his skin;somewhat thick.

As he let it drop down to take a gaze at it;he was horrified. There was blood on it - and lots of it.

Gazing to the right with a jolt of energy, he looked into the mirror and to his dismay: his eyes were bleeding perfidiously. He didn't feel any pain, nor did he feel any sting. His eyes were bleeding, but their green color stayed the same.

Looking into the mirror with an angry yet horrified expression, he slowly reached his hand up to his eyes, drawing a bit of the blood onto his finger, having a light sense of questioning that it might just be a dream.

It wasn't.

The blood ran down his fingers;just as it continued flowing. Letting out a scared voice, he held the rag underneath his eyes and ran back out into the room that held Esdese in the bed, and surprisingly, Mura was standing directly next to the doorway;closing the door quietly. Tatsumi quickly walked up to her;getting close to her as he started to loudly whisper.

"Can you answer - just what the hell is happening to me?

"You heard the voice, did you not?"

"What voice-"

Tatsumi's eyes widened even more;causing the blood to run faster;dripping onto his shirt collar as he put his hand on the now stained spot.

"You knew about that? - and you didn't tell me? What the hell is wrong with you-"

"Tatsumi, this was meant to happen. I know of a lot of things-"

"Then tell me for gods sake, my eyes are literally bleeding! How can you keep this stuff from me?! Is it a crude sense of humor or are you really an evil spirit toying with us?!"

"Really, do you believe something as idiotic as that, Tautsy?"

"My...Eyes...are...bleeding! Just stop all these secrets - secrets get you killed."

"Never a truer word has been spoken-"

"Will you just drive home the point and tell me what is going on?"

"Well, you're being...contacted, to an extent."

"Contacted? This is a pretty damn weird way to talk to somebody."

"The danger beast that The Composer told you of - it's here. It's somewhere in the land, alive, and running well. Some dense and poor soul managed to find the mask and - from what I've gathered - he/she put it on."

Tatsumi was taken aback, but it became a normal feeling for him. Ever since Mura showed up to him that day;the surprising factor has worn off quite a bit.

Taking a mental step, he quickly gripped his black shirt with his left hand;as he continued to wipe the blood from his eyes, and then it was at that moment - he was more astonished then ever.

"That's why you're alive, Tatsumi." she quoted, as she crossed her arms - still wearing the same gloomy outfit she always has.

"Why can't you stop keeping secrets from me? Just tell me what this stupid beast is, tell me it all!" he yelled,visibly angry.

"That beast can't cope or be alive without You being alive. So...it brought you back to life."

"It brought me back to life? How? With one of the wings?"

"No, it watched you. It's watched you since the beginning. Ever since you arrived at the capital, it had been Watching your every move."

"How?"

"That's always the question, isn't it? - It fed off of your energy while Tyrant was taking over your body. You ever wondered where exactly your body went...it transferred that into a wing - letting the wind guide it's way towards you as the final fight ensued. There, it sat, until you became deceased, and now, here you are."

"What does it want with me?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out - you see, you aren't the only one that grasped my mentality from that sword. The beast did it also. I think it's a reason bestowed upon reality - a way in which - every form of evil has a weakness, and it can't exist without a weakness, We are the weakness."

"No. You're evil too aren't you. You're waiting until the opportune moment to kill me and or/Esdese. That's what you're doing. You're toying with me because you are that trump card - you're the evil spirit that Akame spoke of - why are you doing this?"

"Tatsumi, I am no evil spirit, besides, if I wanted to kill you, there have been plenty of moments that I could have , besides. Here."

She reached an arm around her back, shuffling her skirt as the shadow followed it;engulfing her arm, but then shining the small morning dawn atop of it. The object she revealed was a knife, holding a pretty common design. It looked like a standard kitchen knife;one she probably pulled from some drawer. The white void shined on it as she began to speak.

"Take this knife, and stab your arm with it."

"Why in God's name would I do that?!"

"Okay, Slice your arm with it then. Do something to draw blood."

Tatsumi hesitated greatly, wiping the blood with the now half-red rag;grabbing the knife with a shaking hand.

After growing a tight loss of tenacity within the majority subject, Mura took the knife from him swiftly; striking his hand as he watched in shock;holding the rag up to his eyes.

With his hands visibly shaking, he took the rag down to discover the wound in his arm. He wasn't bleeding.

It wasn't blood, nor was it anything red. It was a pure, white light.

-ILH-

Two days have passed since that incident, and Tatsumi was prepared for anything to turn out the way it did. He was still astonished;having that his blood wasn't actually blood. The bleeding of his eyes still began in the morning, and ended within fifteen minutes or so.

The voices he heard were all but the same. They all came from the same sound, the same treacherous, voice cracking sound that he heard in his head.

"We'll play a trick on all of them."

That's what it said.

* * *

Tatsumi's mental state dwindled as he walked down the broken dirt path. His group were constantly badgering with one another - Esdese caused major problems every turn they made - threatening to kill Akame or "punish" Wave for his supposed "betrayal". He didn't know when or how, but he was sure that Esdese had an intention of evil - somewhere hidden in that blue void of hers.

The unlikely accompanied group made their way down the long, dirty pathway - heading towards a nearby forest. Tatsumi had an incantation - the next Trakunikiss wing should be found nearby where Sheele became deceased.

* * *

 **I'm sorry for the short chapter, but things have been happening here. There has been major crime going on and a family member has passed. I will be uploading a more longer, more incentive chapter in the next few days. Expect that! You will be more informed if you follow me on Twitter. Until then, hope you stay happy.**

 **\- Jambles**


	15. Show me your Moping Mile

**Heavy modifications will be done to this chapter as it goes live. - Jambles**

* * *

A few specks of shrub and leaves fell onto Tatsumi's head as he leaned back against a tree, letting the dead Trakunikiss wing surf around in his hand, gently and lightly gripping it;letting himself hold it to the brink of it falling onto the ground.

Where they arrived, the wing didn't work. He tried to figure them out more, but all it did was screw with his brain even more then the week did.

These wings weren't available for use repeatedly...he would have to find another wing before he'd be able to bring back any of his friends...and he still had the nagging thought that made him so uncomfortable it made him mentally ache. He still didn't know what Esdese could have up her sleeve, and why there hasn't been a militia surrounding them yet - he expected that it would happen - making very heavy influential actions on keeping his guard up, but he just fell into the unknown factor.

As he brushed the shrub off of his hair, he gently stood up to feel condensation on his coat, gently brazing it and moving his hand to wet his hand with it;promptly wiping it on a drier part of the durable fabric.

As he turned to the right of the tree, he wasn't too surprised to see Akame standing there - she had gotten good at appearing in weird places.

"So, this is where we stand, huh?" she said with a stern voice.

"Yeah..."

"It pisses me off. We lost our friends, and we took down that fat cat, and now, we're being put through an emotional roller-coaster for what reason?"

"That's what I've been trying to figure out, but Akame - don't complain about it, be happy about it."

"I'm trying my hardest-"

"All I can say is that you are alive, and are standing beside me right now...the very fact that this little object brought you back from the dead is astonishing on its own. That makes me happy."

She sighed as she looked at him, staring off as the wind blew through the grass, uncomfortably shaking the dew off of the nature.

"Tatsumi can I please ask you once again, why do we have Esdese with us?"

Tatsumi sighed as he responded.

"Look, I've already told you why...she isn't the enemy anymore...can we just leave it at that?"

"No, we can't...why couldn't you have just run away and did all of this, why bring her along? More over, I can't believe you're letting her sleep with you either...after all the things she did?"

"In case you haven't noticed, I tried that already-and-...it really isn't my choice whether I sleep with her or not...its kind of like a game of cat and mouse, and I'm always the mouse."

"If she is along with us while we are doing all of this - who's to say she won't just throw us all in prison after its all over? She'll know just as well that she wouldn't be able to handle all of us at once."

"What was our goal when we attacked the capital?"

"Ridding the corrup-"

"The corruption, that's right. Have you seen-"

His words were cut short by Akame sharply punching him in the side, causing him to stutter a bit before staring back at her annoyed face.

"Don't interrupt me like that...its very rude."

"Alright, I'm sorry - but have you seen any soldiers creeping around, any commanders or imperial arms users lurking?"

"N-no. Now that you mention it, the only people we've seen are the ones that you've killed, but I had just assumed that it was because of Esdese' presence."

"Look, I was told of a very, major evil sprouting up. Mura told me that the only way that it's alive is because I'm alive - and she even went as far as to haphazardly tell me that it's the reason I'm alive."

"So that Murasame girl really is bad news..."

"Its not her that's the problem...its this evil. I've seen the things it does to me - the way it talks to me...Akame its scary."

"What are you going on about? What do you mean done to you?"

"A few nights ago, my eyes bled - and I didn't even feel it. They bled like crazy, crazy enough to turn a rag it's same color. It spoke to me in my sleep, it told me that it would 'play a trick on everybody' and that it would finally find 'the joy of creation'."

"...and you don't think that isn't Murasame screwing around with your skull? Its bad enough that she coaxed you into finding these things, maybe she is the one that is creating all of this in the first place. It doesn't make any valid sense why she would be an entity or a human in my sword. She might be that demon - causing trouble..."

"Akame...she isn't. I've touched her before, she has let me know things that should have broken the boundary of insanity, but some-how...I just want to take whatever is coming head on. I just want a happy ending, doesn't that sound okay?"

"It does, but I think we should really take every possibility into consideration..."

"When I bleed, it isn't blood. Its just light. What does that tell you?"

Tatsumi grunted as he noticed the thrusting motion that Akame gave out - he knew that she was going to cut him with something, so he just let her cut his arm with her sheathe. The sheathe made a shifting sound as it hit his coat - gently letting a bit of what was supposed to be blood drip from the tear in it.

All that flowed out was white light;a white, bold void of light.

Akame stepped back in a slightly surprised expression as she slightly smiled.

"You've become some knight of god, haven't you? I ruled all of this nonsense you were speaking of as some kind of Tyrant effect but, you're bleeding light..."

"You don't need to mention him...he hasn't been anywhere since I stepped foot outside of my village...nowhere when-just forget it, and forget him."

* * *

Tatsumi sat in a wooden chair in a voided room, staring at a map sat on the table in front of him. He had a small candle lit, although he really didn't know why. He had guessed he did it as some sort of change in scenery - or maybe it made him feel a disconnection from some of the crazy crap he had been put through. Part of him just wanted to cut his arm even more then it already has been, and maybe then, just then, he would be able to understand what was flowing through him...because it wasn't blood. He wasn't human...

The color of the table had faded away with the darkness of the room, leaving nothing but the blinking candle light and the crudely drawn map. He heard a small grunt as he lazily glanced over at the nearby bed, watching Esdese grip the makeshift pillow he made to substitute for himself.

He had learned a few tricks throughout the months they've been together, but he really didn't expect to find her so cute...

He knew that it wasn't going to be easy to bring Night Raid back, but there was a sliver of thought hanging onto his consciousness like a small pebble on a creek stream; everything was a cake walk from the beginning more or less, Mura showed him where the Teigu were, and he gladly accepted the discoveries...

It only tolled on his mental state, making him question Murasame...

He couldn't question her now, because she owned the one thing that he couldn't find much of at all...Answers.

Tatsumi thought to himself, making out a pathway essential to their current surroundings. If The Trakunikiss wings are truly in these locations marked on the map, its clearly a reciprocal thought that there would be more people like the clan that attacked them looking for the small stones just as he was.

This land has claimed so many lives, its hard to think about what crazy human is looking for these, or how they even came across them.

But again, Tatsumi is a little crazy in and of himself.

After a long fight between him and his immune system, Tatsumi decided to settle on looking for the wing located a hop and spring over from where they were.

He knew it was stupid, and he knew it was cliche and reckless, but it was the absolute only lead he had. Sheele and Leone were inside of his mind, constantly blaring images of themselves at him;tearing at his motivation.

As he folded the map up and placed it further on the table in a tiring slug, he hunched himself over in the small chair that riddled itself with dust.

He placed a hand on his forehead as he slightly jumped at the surprising feel of Esdese' arms wrapping around his neck and placing him in a hugging position, allowing her to speak to him closely.

"You should really stop this whole 'getting up in the middle of the night to mope' act...because its really, really tiring, Tatsumi..."

"I'm sorry, but we went back to that forest clearing for no reason - the wing didn't work at all."

She wrapped her arms tighter around Tatsumi, causing him to sigh.

"How can you wake up so easily?" he responded.

"You could call it an attribute of mine...I always want to know where my love is, and once I felt that stupid pillow I knew it wasn't you."

"But that still doesn't-"

"I worry about you like this...- Get in bed Tatsumi. Now."

"Alright fine, just let me-"

"Now."


	16. Author Note 1

_This is a simple note to wish you a happy November month!_

 **As I have stated in another update before, I have no update schedule - therefore I will upload when I have time - but it won't be excessive periods of hiatus - so you do not need to worry about that.**

I am constantly writing, and I will never stop writing ;3 

Also I can understand the way I update you guys angering or irritating some of you. However - I like to keep all of you informed - and I deeply apologize in advance if you click on a chapter notification and its another crappy author note...but I'd rather write a good quality chapter then push out one very quickly.


	17. Author Note 2

**HAPPY CHRISTMAS MONTH EVERYBODY!**

I can understand the way I update you guys angering or irritating some of you. However - I like to keep all of you informed - and I deeply apologize in advance if you click on a chapter notification and its another crappy author note...but I'd rather write a good quality chapter then push out one very quickly.

I do believe I've said this before, but I don't have a fixed schedule. I update when I can - but it isn't too excessive. This chapter is looking to be monthly. Don't get too irritated if its just an author's note - I am proofreading. ;3 I lost a bit of tenacity due to the manga ending of akame...so I just need to get motivation back. Give me some time ;3

Everybody grab a santa hat!

:3


	18. Author Note 3

**I am still alive, and I am still writing! As I said before, the only reason updates haven't been fast is because I lost a major amount of tenacity for Akame Ga Kill after the manga ending... - but I am still working on it.**

I haven't left this in the dust, nor am I dead. :D

Anxiety has also been present, but I'm not going to make any more excuses other then that, heh.

I'm also working on a few other stories for other fandoms as well. Hang in here with me!


	19. Angry Author Note

Alright- This won't be the last update note, nor will it be content. I want to address the messages from a couple people I've been getting and address a guest' review on the story.

What in the world makes you think I've stopped writing? I haven't **stopped.** I have simply been working on it slower because I am working on A - other projects - and B - the ending of the canon franchise left a hole in me and completely derived me from writing about it. I had things planned out and was writing consistently until I read that ending.

So before you assume I've stopped writing just because I have a month absence, or you think this is dead, take a minute and think intelligently. I ** _am not stopping this story, nor am I abandoning it. Let me go ahead and say that again so you don't spew an unintelligent berating bigot comment at me again -_ I am not stopping this story, nor am I abandoning it, I am simply working on it slower.**

The elevator is still not up to the top floor? I see - let me repeat it one more time.

 **I AM NOT STOPPING THIS STORY, NOR AM I ABANDONING IT. I AM SIMPLY WORKING ON IT SLOWER.**

Thank you for your time and my apologies to those who weren't sending me awful hate mail.

This is a community, and we are supposed to be in it together. Not against one another.

Fatass Jambles out.

\- BigFatJambles


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